Kira Jun-ichi
Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University.
Nihon Rinsho. 2003 Aug;61(8):1300-10.
Although the mechanism of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains elusive, it is generally hypothesized to be an autoimmune disease targeting the central nervous system (CNS) myelin. Extensive epidemiological and genetic surveys indicate that MS is caused by an interplay between the environment and genetic traits determined by normal polymorphisms in multiple genes. In Japanese, epidemiological surveys gave the prevalence rates of 0.7 to 8.9/100,000. There is a small but significant north-to-south gradient of MS prevalence rates in Japan, suggesting that environmental factors varying with latitude also play a role in developing MS even in the low prevalence areas. Conventional MS in Japanese is, like MS in Caucasians, associated with HLA-DRB11501 whereas opticospinal MS is associated with HLA-DPB10501. The ratio of conventional to opticospinal MS has increased rapidly in Japanese born after 1960s, suggesting that the modernization occurred after 1960s in Japan has modifying effects on MS susceptibility and phenotypes.
尽管多发性硬化症（MS）的发病机制仍不清楚，但一般认为它是一种针对中枢神经系统（CNS）髓鞘的自身免疫性疾病。广泛的流行病学和遗传学调查表明，MS是由环境与多个基因正常多态性所决定的遗传特征之间的相互作用引起的。在日本，流行病学调查得出的患病率为0.7至8.9/10万。在日本，MS患病率存在虽小但显著的由北向南的梯度差异，这表明即使在低患病率地区，随纬度变化的环境因素在MS发病中也起作用。日本的典型MS与白种人的MS一样，与HLA - DRB11501相关，而视神经脊髓型MS与HLA - DPB10501相关。20世纪60年代后出生的日本人中，典型MS与视神经脊髓型MS的比例迅速上升，这表明日本20世纪60年代后的现代化进程对MS易感性和表型有影响。
