Objective: To examine a polymorphism within the 3' untranslated region of the leukemia inhibitory factor gene for an association with multiple sclerosis within an Australian case-control population.
Methods: A test group of 121 unrelated multiple sclerosis patients, of Caucasian origin, and 121 controls, matched for ethnicity, sex and age (+/-5 years) were included in the study. The LIF 3' UTR StuI polymorphism was genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Statistical analysis of genotype and allele frequencies included Hardy-Weinberg law and conventional contingency table analysis incorporating the standard chi-squared test for independence.
Results: Allelic and genotype frequencies did not demonstrate a significant association between the case and control groups for the tested LIF 3' UTR StuI polymorphism.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the LIF 3' UTR StuI polymorphism is not associated with multiple sclerosis, however we cannot exclude the hypothesis that other polymorphic alleles of LIF could be implicated in MS susceptibility.