Genetic control of susceptibility to leprosy in French Polynesia; no evidence for linkage with markers on telomeric human chromosome 2.

Several lines of evidence have suggested a role of genetic factors in susceptibility to leprosy. In the mouse, natural susceptibility to infection with mycobacteria is controlled by the chromosome 1 Bcg locus, a region which is syntenic with a fragment of the human chromosome 2q, region q31-q37. It has been postulated that a human homolog of the Bcg gene controls susceptibility to leprosy per se, and may be located on chromosome 2q. In order to test the influence of this putative gene on leprosy per se, we performed linkage analyses in a set of seven multicase French Polynesian pedigrees, using an affected sib pair method and the LOD score method employing different modes of inheritance. Family members were typed for eight polymorphic loci on chromosome 2q: CRYGP1, FN, TNP1, VIL, DES, INH, PAX3, and UGT1A1. Our data provide evidence against the presence of a gene controlling susceptibility to leprosy per se on human chromosome 2q in the French Polynesian population.