HLA Associations of Intrathecal IgG Production against Specific Viruses in Multiple Sclerosis

Specific human leucocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are not only associated with higher risk to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases, but also with the severity of various viral and bacterial infections. Here, we analyzed the most specific biomarker for MS, that is, the polyspecific intrathecal IgG antibody production against measles, rubella, and varicella zoster virus (MRZ reaction), for possible HLA associations in MS.

We assessed MRZ reaction from 184 Swiss patients with MS and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and 89 Swiss non-MS/non-CIS control patients, and performed HLA sequence-based typing, to check for associations of positive MRZ reaction with the most prevalent HLA alleles. We used a cohort of 176 Swedish MS/CIS patients to replicate significant findings.

Whereas positive MRZ reaction showed a prevalence of 38.0% in MS/CIS patients, it was highly specific (97.7%) for MS/CIS. We identified HLA-DRB1*15:01 and other tightly linked alleles of the HLA-DR15 haplotype as the strongest HLA-encoded risk factors for a positive MRZ reaction in Swiss MS/CIS (odds ratio [OR], 3.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.05-7.46, p_adjusted = 0.0004) and replicated these findings in Swedish MS/CIS patients (OR 2.18, 95%-CI 1.16-4.02, p_adjusted = 0.028). In addition, female MS/CIS patients had a significantly higher probability for a positive MRZ reaction than male patients in both cohorts combined (p_adjusted <0.005).

HLA-DRB1*15:01, the strongest genetic risk factor for MS, and female sex, 1 of the most prominent demographic risk factors for developing MS, predispose in MS/CIS patients for a positive MRZ reaction, the most specific CSF biomarker for MS. ANN NEUROL 2024;95:1112-1126.