Elaheh Rahati Noveir - Ms of molecular Genetics, Department of Genetics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.
Ali Nazemy - Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics, Department of Genetics, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.
Sina Mirzaahmadi - Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics, Department of Genetics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease, of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects young adults. The cause of MS is unknown; however, susceptibility to MS is thought to result of complex interactions between genes and environmental factors. Allelic variation in HLA particularly class II is one of the biomarkers related to increase susceptibility to the disease. The age at onset of disease from first to sixth decade of life is variable. Epidemiological studies have suggested a minor genetic component to the age at onset of MS. The aim of our study was to determine frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 allele and influence on age at onset in a population of patients with multiple sclerosis in Iran. In this study, the presence of DRB1*15 allele was investigated in 70 Iranian multiple sclerosis patients and compared with 70 healthy individuals. HLA typing for this allele was performed by manual polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with allele-specific primers (PCR-ASP) method.The results show that, Compared with healthy controls, the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was significantly higher in MS patients with different geographic area in Iran (PV=0.007) .In addition, no significant correlation was observed among HLA-DRB1*15 allele with age at onset of MS patients.In conclusion, this study showed that the Iranian people with HLA-DRB1*15 allele are far more likely susceptibility to MS and this allele could be as a biomarker for earlier prognosis of MS disease .However, this allele was not interfered in the age at onset of this disease.

Multiple Sclerosis, HLA-DRB1*15, Allele-Specific PCR, age at onset