ABSTRACT
Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) are detoxification enzymes, evolved to protect cells against reactive oxygen metabolites. Both GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes exhibit a homozygous deletion polymorphism (null genotype) leading to abolished enzyme activity. We studied the impact of the GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms on MS susceptibility in a case-control study of 47 Greek patients and 165 controls. Correlations between genotype, gender and disability status were also investigated. The incidence of both GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes did not differ significantly between controls and patients. A significantly increased frequency of GSTM1 null genotype was found amongst female patients (65.5%) as compared with males (33.3%, P =0.04). The results suggest that GSTT1 and GSTM1 have no major pathogenetic role on the MS occurrence, nor any strong modifying effect on the disability status. The higher incidence of GSTM1 null genotype observed in female patients, suggests a possible role of the GSTM1 detoxification pathway in a gender-dependent manner.
