MS Study Reveals Differences in Blacks and Whites

The mystery to why blacks tend to face greater disability with MS may be closer to being solved. According to a study published in the July 3, 2007, issue of medical journal Neurology, an antibody used to diagnose multiple sclerosis is present in greater levels in the spinal fluid of blacks with MS than whites with the disease.

 

Researchers compared the immune responses of 66 African-Americans and 132 whites with multiple sclerosis. The results showed that levels of antibodies respons ible for anti-myelin activity in the spinal fluid were 29 percent higher in blacks than whites. The study also confirmed that African Americans with MS often require walking aids far earlier than whites, but doesn't nail down why. On average, African Americans had MS for nine years before needing ambulatory assistance such as a cane, compared to 17 years for whites, reports the National MS Society.

 

"Certain aspects of the study reveal that MS-related immune abnormalities are more severe in African Americans," says John Richert, M.D., executive vice president, research & clinical programs, National MS Society. "But we must work harder to understand why the disease course can be more severe for African Americans."

 

John R. Rinker, M.D., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and study co-author, says it's possible that unevenly distributed genes between ethnic groups could account for different susceptibility to some diseases. "In multiple sclerosis,=0 Arecent genetic studies have begun to identify certain genes, which may explain why African Americans experience more disability," Dr. Rinker says. However, exactly what these genes do is still a mystery. --S.G.