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Earlier age of symptom onset in younger generation of familial cases of multiple sclerosis

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Abstract

Aim

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of familial MS (fMS) in Belgrade MS population, discern the differences between the persons with fMS and sporadic MS, and to detect the presence of anticipation phenomenon in fMS patients.

Methods

The data on the demographic and clinical characteristics of MS patients was obtained from the Belgrade MS population Registry. In cases of vertical transmission of MS, the family members were divided into the younger and older generation, in order to assess the potential presence of anticipation phenomenon. To adjust for follow-up time bias, a secondary analysis including only patients who had the onset of symptoms before 39 years (75.percentile), and those who were 39 + years, was performed.

Results

The prevalence of fMS in Belgrade MS population is 6.4%. FMS cases had earlier age at MS symptom onset (30.4 vs. 32.3 years) compared to sporadic MS cohort. When comparing fMS cases across generations, the younger generation had significantly lower age at onset compared with the older one (25.8 vs. 35.7 years, p < 0.001). After adjustment for the different length of the follow-up, the difference in age at symptom onset between the groups was reduced, but it still existed and was statistically significant (30.0 years in younger vs. 36.4 years in older generation, p = 0.040).

Conclusion

In our study, the analysis of fMS cases across generations, showed an earlier age of symptom onset in the younger generation, even after adjustment. These results indicate the possibility of existence of anticipation phenomenon.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological development and innovation of the Republic of Serbia (grant no. 200110).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Aleksa Jovanovic, Tatjana Pekmezovic & Gorica Maric

  2. Clinic of Neurology, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia

    Sarlota Mesaros, Nikola Veselinovic, Olivera Tamas, Jovana Ivanovic, Marko Andabaka, Nikola Momcilovic & Jelena Drulovic

  3. Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Sarlota Mesaros, Nikola Veselinovic, Olivera Tamas & Jelena Drulovic

  4. Institute of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ivana Novakovic

  5. Clinical Institute for Medical Genetics, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Borut Peterlin

Authors
  1. Aleksa Jovanovic
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  2. Tatjana Pekmezovic
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  3. Sarlota Mesaros
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  4. Ivana Novakovic
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  5. Borut Peterlin
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  6. Nikola Veselinovic
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  7. Olivera Tamas
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  8. Jovana Ivanovic
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  9. Gorica Maric
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  10. Marko Andabaka
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  11. Nikola Momcilovic
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  12. Jelena Drulovic
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Contributions

AJ—data acquisition, statistical analysis, and preparation of the draft of the manuscript, TP – conceptualization, study design, and critical review SM – conceptualisation and critical review, IN – conceptualization, interpretation of genetic results, and critical review BP – conceptualization, interpretation of genetic results, and critical review, NV – data acquisition and critical review, OT—data acquisition and critical review, JI—data acquisition and critical review, GM—data acquisition, statistical analysis and critical review, MA—data acquisition and critical review, NM—data acquisition and critical review, JD – conceptualization, study design, and critical review. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jelena Drulovic.

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Ethics approval

Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade (No. 1322/XII-10).

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the participants in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Jovanovic, A., Pekmezovic, T., Mesaros, S. et al. Earlier age of symptom onset in younger generation of familial cases of multiple sclerosis. Neurol Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-024-07512-w

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