Contribution of the interleukin‐1β gene polymorphism in multiple system atrophy

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Abstract
We studied genetic polymorphisms in the promoter region at position ‐511 of the interleukin (IL) ‐1β gene (IL‐1B‐511) and at position ‐889 of the IL‐1α gene (IL‐1A‐889), in 111 Japanese patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 160 controls. The distribution of IL‐1B‐511 was significantly different between MSA patients and controls, because of the under‐representation of patients with homozygotes for allele 2 (IL‐1B‐511*2), a high producer of IL‐1β. The frequency of IL‐1A‐889*2, a high secretor of IL‐1α, was also decreased in MSA patients. Our findings suggest that abnormal cytokine expression may be implicated in the pathogenesis of MSA. © 2002 Movement Disorder Society