RESUMEN
Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae, which is manifested across a wide clinical spectrum. There is evidence that susceptibility both to leprosy per se and to the clinical type of leprosy is influenced by host genetic factors. This paper describes the application of an identity by descent regression search for genetic determinants of leprosy type among families from Karonga District, Northern Malawi. Suggestive evidence was found for linkage to leprosy type on chr 21q22 (P<0.001). The methodological implications of the approach and the findings are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Cromosomas Humanos Par 21/genética , Ligamiento Genético/genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Lepra/epidemiología , Femenino , Humanos , Lepra/diagnóstico , Lepra/genética , Malaui/epidemiología , Masculino , Linaje , Análisis de RegresiónRESUMEN
The ancient disease of leprosy can cause severe disability and disfigurement and is still a major health concern in many parts of the world. Only a subset of those individuals exposed to the pathogen will go on to develop clinical disease and there is a broad clinical spectrum amongst leprosy sufferers. The outcome of infection is in part due to host genes that influence control of the initial infection and the host's immune response to that infection. Identification of the host genes that influence host susceptibility/resistance will enable a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis. In turn, this should facilitate development of more effective therapeutics and vaccines. So far at least a dozen genes have been implicated in leprosy susceptibility and a genome-wide linkage study has lead to the identification of at least one positional candidate. These findings are reviewed here.
Asunto(s)
Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad/genética , Lepra/genética , Animales , Ligamiento Genético/genética , Ligamiento Genético/inmunología , Humanos , Lepra/inmunología , Complejo Mayor de Histocompatibilidad/genética , Complejo Mayor de Histocompatibilidad/inmunologíaRESUMEN
The ancient disease of leprosy can cause severe disability and disfigurement and is still a major health concern in many parts of the world. Only a subset of those individuals exposed to the pathogen will go on to develop clinical disease and there is a broad clinical spectrum amongst leprosy sufferers. The outcome of infection is in part due to host genes that influence control of the initial infection and the host's immune response to that infection. Identification of the host genes that influence host susceptibility/resistance will enable a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis. In turn, this should facilitate development of more effective therapeutics and vaccines. So far at least a dozen genes have been implicated in leprosy susceptibility and a genome-wide linkage study has lead to the identification of at least one positional candidate. These findings are reviewed here.