Abstract
Objectives
Month of birth has been associated with the environmental factors for multiple sclerosis
(MS). This study aimed to investigate whether individuals with MS had significantly
different frequencies of birth in a particular month of the year, and whether month-of-birth
patterns were influenced by the longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesions (LESCL)
status relative to the general population in the same Japanese birth cohort.
Methods
In this study, performed as a part of the fourth Japanese nationwide survey of MS,
patients were divided into two groups according to the presence (n = 307) or absence (n = 906) of LESCLs that were diagnosed on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging findings.
The number of births in every month was counted for both groups. Control data were
obtained from birth records of the Japanese general population of the median years
of birth of each group. Differences in the month-of-birth distributions between the
patients and the general population were assessed using the chi-square test.
Results
In MS patients without LESCLs, significantly more patients were born in January and
June, whereas significantly fewer patients were born in May, compared to the general
population. The seasonal patterns of birth were not in association with those of ambient
ultraviolet (UV) radiation. No significant differences were found for the month-of-birth
distributions between MS patients with LESCLs and the general population.
Conclusions
A different distribution of month of birth in Japanese MS patients without LESCLs
from the general population, but not in those with LESCLs, suggests some role for
environmental factors in the pathogenesis of the former group. Environmental factors
other than UV radiation should be further elucidated in Japanese and other Asian MS
cohorts.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 06, 2013
Accepted:
April 10,
2013
Received in revised form:
April 7,
2013
Received:
July 11,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
