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Possible Fibromyalgia Gene Identified by Roger Burns
A gene that may be linked to fibromyalgia has been found by researchers at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria. In their study published in the February '99 Journal of Rheumatology, 85 affected and 21 unaffected members of 41 sibships were studied, drawn from 40 multicase families. The scientists concluded that they had found a possible gene for fibromyalgia that is linked with the HLA region on human cells. The researchers cautioned that "Our results should be regarded as preliminary and their independent confirmation by other studies is warranted."
This study also analyzed a subgroup of 17 families where subject individuals had both depression and fibromyalgia. These results did not change the overall conclusions. The HLA region, where the gene link was found, is used by the human immune system to identify which cells are "self" and "not-self".
See this paper as:
Yunus MB, Khan MA, Rawlings KK, Green JR, Olson JM, Shah S.
Genetic linkage analysis of multicase families with fibromyalgia
syndrome. J Rheumatol 1999 Feb;26(2):408-12. PMID: 9972977, UI:
99137262.
[Thanks to Linda Clement and Margaret Bailey for assistance with this article.]
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