No association of IFI16 (interferon-inducible protein 16) variants with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis

IFI16 encodes a nucleic acid-sensor which detects latent EBV and triggers inflammasome activation. We analysed IFI16 variants in two multiple sclerosis (MS) case–control cohorts from Italy and Spain; results were combined with a previous study. A risk variant for celiac disease/rheumatoid arthritis, a polymorphic exon 7 duplication, and a copy number variant (CNV) in the 5′ region were genotyped. No significant association was detected, although heterogeneity was noted for the 5′ CNV in the Italian plus GeneMSA cohorts and the Spanish sample. Thus, IFI16 variants do not contribute to MS susceptibility, although some heterogeneity may exist for the 5′ CNV.