Scientists close in on meningitis genes
Monday August 9th, 2010
New genetic findings may help solve the puzzle of why a small number of people succumb to meningococcus infection and others are spared.
The bug causes one of the most devastating forms of the meningitis and also the fatal blood infection, septicaemia, but only takes hold in a small proportion of those infected.
British researchers worked with colleagues in Singapore to analyse genes from more than 6,000 people for the findings, reported last night in the journal Nature Genetics.
Genes were analysed from 1,500 meningitis victims from Britain, Holland, Austria and Spain and compared with another 5,000 unaffected people.
The researchers from Imperial College, London, say they have found genetic variations affecting a group of proteins called Factor H and Factor H-related. They worked with the Genome Institute of Singapore.
These can be hijacked by the meningococcus, enabling it to infiltrate the immune system.
Researcher Dr Victoria Wright, of Imperial College, said: "Meningococcal disease is a terrible illness as it strikes healthy children and adults suddenly, and can kill in a few hours. Improving our understanding of why some people get the disease and not others will help to identify those at risk and develop better vaccines.
"The success of the study was due to the willingness of patients and families to contribute their DNA for analysis, and it could not have been achieved without international collaboration."
Researcher Dr Michael Levin said: "Although most of us have carried the meningitis bacteria at some point, only around one in 40,000 people develop meningococcal meningitis.
"Our study set out to understand what causes this small group of people to become very ill whilst others remain immune. Our findings provide the strongest evidence so far that there are genetic factors that lead to people developing meningitis."
Genome-wide association study identifies variants in the CFH region associated with host susceptibility to meningococcal disease. Nature Genetics, Sunday 8 August 2010
Tags: Asia | Brain & Neurology | Child Health | Genetics | UK News
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