Identification of risk variants for the restless legs syndrome

The restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder. Since the first description a large genetic contribution in the aetiology was suspected. For the first time genetic risk variants for RLS have been identified performing a genome wide association study by genotyping 500 000 common genetic variants. More than 1600 patients with RLS and 2600 controls of the general population have participated in this study. The identified genes MEIS1, BTBD9, and LBXCOR1 are know as control factors in embryonic development. Their role in the adult brain is still unknown.