Environmental factors and a risk for multiple sclerosis in the Altai Territory

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic dysimmune neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, the risk of which depends on genetic and environmental factors. The Altai Territory of the Russian Federation shows an increase in the prevalence of MS from 15.5 cases per 100,000population in 1984 to 56.1 in 2017.Objective: to identify potential environmental risk factors for MS in the Altai Territory.Patients and methods. A one-stage randomized study using the method of analytical epidemiology covered 200patients with MS and 200 volunteers without this condition, the representatives of European ethnicity, who were born and lived in the Altai Territory. The investigators surveyed the patients, analyzed their medical records, and assessed the relationship of the prevalence of MS to the characteristics of the territories of residence.Results and discussion. The prevalence of MS was 1.8 times higher in cities and towns than in villages (p=0.003), in areas with heavy metal (lead and molybdenum) ore deposits, chemical and oil refineries located within a 5-km radius from the place of residence. The risk of MS is unassociated with measles, rubella, chicken pox, mumps, whooping cough, herpes infection, chronic nasopharyngeal bacterial infections, diabetes mellitus, allergic status, and contact with household, agricultural, metal, and medicinal poisons, organic solvents, and oil products.Conclusion. The identified environmental risk factors can serve as a basis for recommendations for the prevention of MS in persons at high genetic risk for this disease.

Keywords

• multiple sclerosis
• epidemiology
• risk factors