Multiple sclerosis in 3 gipsy and 2 partly gipsy subjects (a clinical and immunogenetic study)

Based on a clinical and immunogenetical study of three Gipsy and two partly Gipsy patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) it is concluded that clinically the MS of pure Gipsies resembles the Eastern form of MS and that of the partly Gipsy patients the Caucasian form of the disease. In respect of histocompatibility the association of the DR2 and B7 antigens with the disease has been confirmed. By taking into account the data on the frequency of the HLA antigens in the healthy Gipsy population the genetic factors determining MS are probably only indirectly related to the B and DR loci inside the complex HLA system.