Maternal age influences risk for HLA-B27 associated ankylosing enthesopathy in transgenic mice.

OBJECTIVE

To study further the temporal clustering of ankylosing enthesopathy (AE) noted originally during a study of the influence of mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC) H-2 and transgenic HLA-B27 on the frequency of AE.

METHODS

The relationship between maternal age at littering and frequency of AE was analysed.

RESULTS

Mice born to mothers aged eight months or older had a significantly lower disease frequency of AE than mice born to mothers younger than eight months of age. This phenomenon was observed in three independent cohorts evaluated to date (p < 0.01, 0.025, and 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Maternal age is a novel, non-genetic risk factor as defined in relation to an MHC associated enthesopathy. Its mode of action and relevance to human disease require further investigation.