Scientists crack mystery of how MS gene spread

[John Mac]

Why are diseases more common in some parts of Europe than others, and why are northern Europeans taller than their southern counterparts?

An international team of scientists say they have unearthed the answer in the DNA of ancient teeth and bones.

The genes which protected our ancestors from animal diseases now raise the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The researchers call their discovery "a quantum leap" in understanding the evolution of the disease.

And they say it could change opinions on what causes MS, and have an impact on the way it is treated.

Why look at MS?
There are about twice as many cases of multiple sclerosis per 100,000 people in north-western Europe, including the UK and Scandinavia, compared with southern Europe.

Researchers from the universities of Cambridge, Copenhagen and Oxford spent more than 10 years delving into archaeology to investigate why.

MS is a disease where the body's own immune cells attack the brain and spinal cord, leading to symptoms like muscle stiffness and problems walking and talking.

They discovered that genes which increase the risk of MS entered into north-western Europe about 5,000 years ago via a massive migration of cattle herders called Yamnaya.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67917294

 

[Wonko]

Confusing.....

Was the migration a named migration itself called Yamnaya

Or were the cattle called Yamnaya cattle

Or were thr cattle herders called Yamnaya, in which case it should have been the Yamnaya

Or were there hundreds of cattle herders all/all called Yamnaya?

Which would have got quite confusing.

 

[Ravn]

The Nature paper the above article is based on (plus links to the 3 companion papers all from the same study, published as a set).

Have only skimmed the first paper. Looks interesting but I don't have enough cognitive energy to read it properly. Briefly discusses RA as well as MS so @Jonathan Edwards might be interested

Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations, 2024, Barrie et al

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease that is most prevalent in Northern Europe. Although it is known that inherited risk for MS is located within or in close proximity to immune-related genes, it is unknown when, where and how this genetic risk originated1. Here, by using a large ancient genome dataset from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age2, along with new Medieval and post-Medieval genomes, we show that the genetic risk for MS rose among pastoralists from the Pontic steppe and was brought into Europe by the Yamnaya-related migration approximately 5,000 years ago. We further show that these MS-associated immunogenetic variants underwent positive selection both within the steppe population and later in Europe, probably driven by pathogenic challenges coinciding with changes in diet, lifestyle and population density. This study highlights the critical importance of the Neolithic period and Bronze Age as determinants of modern immune responses and their subsequent effect on the risk of developing MS in a changing environment.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06618-z

The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06705-1

100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06862-3

Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06865-0

 

[ME/CFS Skeptic]

Merged thread

• NEWS
• 10 January 2024

Ancient DNA reveals origins of multiple sclerosis in Europe
A huge cache of ancient genomes spanning tens of thousands of years reveals the roots of traits in modern Europeans.

[...]

Europe was settled by anatomically modern humans in three main waves: hunter-gatherers reached Europe from Asia around 45,000 years ago; farmers arrived from the Middle East 11,000 years ago; and pastoralists — animal herders — came from the steppes of western Asia and eastern Europe 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists and historians had assumed that these groups mixed with one another throughout the continent, and that populations in particular places evolved distinct traits in response to their local environments.

But when geneticist Eske Willerslev at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his team began investigating the ancient-human genomes, they found that that wasn’t the full story. The researchers collected and sequenced DNA from 317 ancient skeletons found in Europe, most of which were between 3,000 and 11,000 years old1. They then combined these sequences with existing genomic data from more than 1,300 other ancient Eurasians.

[...]

Surprisingly, one of the traits that seems to have had a strong evolutionary advantage is one associated with a predisposition to multiple sclerosis4. This trait arrived in Europe with the west-Asian pastoralists and became even more common in northern Europe over the subsequent millennia.

Today, multiple sclerosis is a devastating disease caused by an overactive immune system attacking the nervous system. But that superpowered immune system, or genetic variants associated with it, could have helped ancient people to survive plagues and common pathogens, Willerslev says. “That’s the best explanation we can come up with.”

Full article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00024-9

 

[ME/CFS Skeptic]

I suspect this is the actual research article presenting the data, but I'm not sure because it is behind a paywall.

• NEWS AND VIEWS
• 10 January 2024

Prehistoric events might explain European multiple sclerosis risk
An exploration of more than 1,600 ancient Eurasian genomes suggests that genetic changes that increase autoimmune-disease risk in modern Europeans could have protected ancient Europeans from pathogens.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03977-5

 

[ME/CFS Skeptic]

I suspect that ME/CFS is more prevalent in similar population groups (although we can't really know for sure at this point).

 

[Ravn]

I suspect this is the actual research article presenting the data, but I'm not sure because it is behind a paywall.

• NEWS AND VIEWS
• 10 January 2024

Prehistoric events might explain European multiple sclerosis risk
An exploration of more than 1,600 ancient Eurasian genomes suggests that genetic changes that increase autoimmune-disease risk in modern Europeans could have protected ancient Europeans from pathogens.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03977-5

I'm guessing that paywalled News & Views piece just introduces the 4 papers reporting the actual study findings. These are linked in post #3 above and are all open access

 

[Kitty]

I suspect that ME/CFS is more prevalent in similar population groups (although we can't really know for sure at this point).

Same thing thing has occurred to me—I've even wondered whether DecodeME will look at maternal haplogrouping. (I haven't asked, since I'm mostly curious because I'm a member of a weirdy one and the question's probably irrelevant.)