The BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism: implications for susceptibility to multiple sclerosis and severity of disease

Neurodegeneration following inflammatory injury is considered to be a pathological correlate of irreversible disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. The availability of neurotrophins could influence the probability or rate of disease progression and the time of onset. The BDNF-Val66Met-polymorphism leads to altered intracellular transport and secretion of BDNF, and is thus a logical candidate for a gene that influences susceptibility and, more specifically, the clinical course of multiple sclerosis. In order to test this hypothesis we genotyped the polymorphism in 951 UK multiple sclerosis trio families, but found no evidence for association before (p=0.63) or after stratification for clinical course (p=0.73).