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Restless leg syndrome caused by gene

Last Updated 04 May 2018, 06:31 IST

Restless leg syndrome, which makes people to move their legs to stop unpleasant sensations, may have a genetic cause, a new study led by an Indian researcher has suggested.

In experiments on fruit flies, a team led by Subhabrata Sanyal at Emory University in Georgia identified a gene called BTBD9 which is disrupting the flies’ normally sound sleep. The human version of the gene has been linked to sleep disorders in people.

“The major significance of our study is to highlight the fact that there might be a genetic basis for RLS [restless leg syndrome],” Sanyal was quoted as saying by LiveScience.

Better ways to diagnose and treat restless leg syndrome could come from further study of the gene, Sanyal said.

People with restless leg syndrome have an irresistible urge to move, to rid themselves of unpleasant leg sensations, that gets worse when they try to rest.

Past studies have shown the condition runs in families, and human genetic studies have suggested that BTBD9 may be involved.

It’s, however, unclear what the gene’s normal role is, so Sanyal and colleagues decided to see what would happen to the flies if they snipped the gene out of the flies’ DNA.

The researchers, who detailed their work in the journal Current Biology, found that flies without BTBD9 moved more often than normal flies and lost sleep due to this movement.

Fly sleep is defined as five minutes without movement, and on average, the mutant flies woke up 50 per cent more often than normal flies, the researchers said.

“Flies don’t have restless legs, but we find that mutant flies walk more and pause less. This is similar to the general restlessness that is seen in RLS patients,” Sanyal said.

“This is difficult to model in flies, but the overall restlessness seems to be conserved.”

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(Published 01 June 2012, 16:15 IST)

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