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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2001;286:2801.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

People who lack a particular variant of a gene involved in the immune response may be three times more likely to develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) syndrome, the human version of mad cow syndrome, according to a new study by scientists in England.

The investigators, from University College London, National Blood Service, Royal Free and University College Medical School, all in London, and Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxford, reported their findings in the November 15 issue of Nature.

The gene, called DQ7, is one of several variants of a gene that is part of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex, a cluster of genes that play a role in presenting peptides, such as from bacteria, to the immune system. The researchers found that only 12% of 50 patients with vCJD had this genetic variant compared with nearly 36% of controls.

If the finding that DQ7 has a . . . [Full Text of this Article]