Background: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is a T-cell surface receptor of activated T cells.
Material and methods: We studied 100 Iranian patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) and 100 ethnic, sex- and age-matched controls. CTLA-4 exon 1 A/G polymorphism was compared amongst patients and controls.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the allelic [odds ratio (OR): 1.19, confidence interval (CI) 95%: 0.76-1.85, P = 0.4] and genotypes (OR: 1.60, CI 95%: 0.911-2.824, P = 0.102) distribution amongst patients and controls. Also gender, course and progression index did not reveal any statistically significant differences in allele and genotype distribution of A/G polymorphism.
Conclusion: As a non-European patient population, our results are consistent with the major previous studies showing no significant associations between CTLA4 exon 1 polymorphism and neither MS nor any of its subtypes.