Leprosy Susceptibility Marker Found Bordered By Parkinson's Genes
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified two genetic markers that might help identify people most likely to contract leprosy. The genetic markers for leprosy fall within two Parkinson's-related genes, which suggests a possible link between the two illnesses, according to a study in the online edition of Nature.
"They are risk markers for leprosy and very significant ones," Erwin Schurr, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada said in an interview.
The researchers found an association between leprosy and 17 alleles located in an 80-kilobase block overlapping the regulatory region shared by the Parkinson's gene PARK2 and the co-regulated gene PACRG. Patients with as few as two of the risk alleles had an increased risk, they found.
"The markers may give us a handle to find the reason why leprosy has not gone away," he said, noting that while there are 700,000 new cases each year that are treated successfully, there is "no known (drug) resistance or animal or human reservoir."
He and his team found the markers by studying 197 families in Vietnam and 975 unrelated sufferers in Brazil.
Nature Online Edition, January 25, 2004.
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