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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
Published on: July 19, 2019
Cumulative influence of parity-related genomic changes in multiple sclerosis
Divya Mehta1, Shivangi Wani2, Leanne Wallace2
1School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia; Center for Neurostatistics and Statistical Genomics, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
Pregnancy reduces the frequency of relapses in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and parity also has a beneficial long term effect on disease outcome. We aimed to uncover the biological mechanisms underlying the beneficial long-term effects of parity in MS. Genome-wide gene expression revealed 574 genes associated with parity; 38.3% showed significant DNA methylation changes (enrichment p = 0.029). These genes overlapped with previous MS genes in humans and a rat MS model and were overrepresented within axon guidance (P = 1.6e-05), developmental biology (P = 0.0094) and cell-cell communication (P = 0.019) pathways. This gene regulation could provide a basis for a protective effect of parity on the long-term outcome of MS.
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