NALP1 'vitiligo' gene on chromosome 17p13 may impact psoriasis

A new study published today has identified a gene that may play an important role in vitiligo as well as many other immune system diseases including psoriasis. Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder that results in white patches developing on the skin in various parts of the body.

The study found that the NALP1 gene on chromosome 17 appeared to play a role in predisposing people to a variety of immune diseases. While some degree of exaggeration typically seems to creep into media reports describing findings like this, we are allowing ourselves to be encouraged by this news:

The pinpointed region of chromosome 17, called NALP1, could be a new target for treatment, said the authors of a study in the March 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"This part of the immune system may respond to triggers coming from the environment, like bacteria or viruses, and there are indications that you can turn it off. So, we're very, very hopeful that there may be drugs that allow us to do that," said the study's senior author, Dr. Richard A. Spritz, who directs the Human Medical Genetics Program at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.

Spritz added, "That's not going to help people with childhood diabetes, where the damage is already complete. But, for a number of chronic autoimmune disorders, like lupus and vitiligo, if you turn off the autoimmune process, the body could repair itself." ...

But NALP1 is probably only part of the picture.

"This can't be the whole story," Spritz said. "This is one of probably many genes that predispose to autoimmunity, but it looks like it may be involved in a pretty big way, which is why we were able to find it."

The gene is connected to the body's primitive immune system, which is involved with the earliest responses to outside attacks.

"It probably has a big effect, and it probably interacts in some complex way with other genes and other risk factors," Spritz pointed out. "We know a lot about this gene. It was not an anonymous gene that you would have to start from ground zero studying. We know that it's part of the surveillance system for attack by bacteria or viruses, part of the innate immune system."

An outline of the New England Journal of Medicine article is here.

We'll close this with a final quote by Dr. Spritz:

"All diseases are complex, the result of different genes and environmental risk factors acting together in concert," said Dr Spritz.

"But if NALP1 turns out to be one of the major genes involved in numerous autoimmune diseases, and if we can interrupt its negative effects, we may have the chance to treat many different chronic autoimmune disorders like vitiligo, lupus and psoriasis and perhaps eventually eliminate them altogether."