Osteopontin gene haplotypes correlate with multiple sclerosis development and progression

Osteopontin (OPN) is an inflammatory cytokine highly expressed in multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques. In a previous work, we showed that four OPN polymorphisms form three haplotypes (A, B, and C) and that homozygotes for haplotype-A display lower OPN levels than non-AA subjects. In this work, we evaluated the distribution of these OPN haplotypes in 425 MS patients and 688 controls. Haplotype-A homozygotes had about 1.5 lower risk of developing MS than non-AA subjects. Clinical analysis of 288 patients showed that AA patients displayed slower switching from a relapsing remitting to a secondary progressive form and milder disease with slower evolution of disability. MS patients displayed increased OPN serum levels, which were partly due to the increased frequency of non-AA subjects. Moreover in AA patients, OPN levels were higher than in AA controls and similar to those found in both non-AA patients and controls, which suggests a role of the activated immune response. These data suggest that OPN genotypes may influence MS development and progression due to their influence on OPN levels.