# Association of autoimmune comorbidities in persons with multiple sclerosis from a population-based study with genetic linkage

## TL;DR

This study finds that people with multiple sclerosis are more likely to have other autoimmune diseases and suggests shared genetic factors may explain this link.

## Contribution

The study provides population-based evidence of autoimmune comorbidity in MS and links it to shared genetic susceptibility.

## Key findings

- The prevalence of 14 autoimmune diseases is higher in people with multiple sclerosis.
- Multiple sclerosis patients with comorbid autoimmune diseases have higher polygenic risk scores.

## Abstract

Comorbidities are a critical concern for clinicians in both the treatment and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, often co-occur within individuals. However, most studies examining the incidence or prevalence of autoimmune diseases in persons with multiple sclerosis compared to healthy controls have used relatively small sample sets, with only a few being population-based.

To analyze the co-occurrence of other autoimmune diseases in persons with multiple sclerosis and determine whether common genetic susceptibility factors contribute to the co-occurrence of autoimmune diseases.

We conducted a population-based study using administrative health records to include all residents of Piedmont, an Italian Region with about 4.3 million inhabitants, identifying individuals with multiple sclerosis and 14 other autoimmune diseases. For a subset of persons with multiple sclerosis with available genome-wide genotyping data, we investigated the influence of their genetic backgrounds using a polygenic risk score.

The prevalence of all 14 tested autoimmune diseases was higher in persons with multiple sclerosis compared to those without multiple sclerosis. Furthermore, persons with multiple sclerosis with autoimmune disease comorbidities had a higher polygenic risk score compared to persons with multiple sclerosis without comorbidities.

Our findings confirm the co-occurrence of multiple sclerosis with several autoimmune diseases, and suggest that shared genetic susceptibility factors may influence this association.