In mouse models and in humans, females susceptible to multiple sclerosis (MS) produce higher levels of the blood vessel receptor protein sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1PR2) than do males, with greater expression in brain regions vulnerable to MS. Findings of this study, published May 8 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (Cruz-Orengo et al., 2014), may help explain the nearly fourfold greater incidence of MS in women than in men.
“It was a ‘Bingo!’ moment—our genetic studies led us right to this receptor,” senior author Robyn Klein, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, anatomy and neurobiology, and pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, said in a news release. “When we looked at its function in mice, we found that it can determine whether immune cells cross blood vessels into the brain. These cells cause the inflammation that leads to MS.”
Read the full, original story: Genetic Marker May Underlie Sex Difference in MS Susceptibility