STAT3 · rs1026916
Where this position leads
Condition: Multiple Sclerosis
Strength of the evidence
Its strongest genetic-study result is p = 10−28, with 3 associations in the GWAS Catalog.
4: ClinVar disease-causing, reviewed by an expert panel or a guideline (3–4 stars). 3: ClinVar, several labs agreeing (2 stars), or a genetic study at p ≤ 10−50. 2: ClinVar from one lab (1 star), or p ≤ 10−20. 1: ClinVar submitted without criteria (0 stars), or genome-wide significance (p ≤ 5×10−8). The higher of the two counts. It says how solid the evidence is, not whether it matters for a particular person.
What the study found
Who was studied 14,802 European and unknown ancestry cases, 26,703 European and unknown ancestry controls; replicated in 32,627 European and unknown ancestry cases, 41,672 European and unknown ancestry controls.
The effect Each copy of the A allele carried 1.11 times the odds of Multiple sclerosis; p = 2 × 10−28.
Where it sits Chromosome 17, band 17q21.2 — in an intron of STAT3.
How common each version is
AG
A 35.3% · G 64.7%
A 37.6% · G 62.4%
A 36.2% · G 63.8%
A 42.0% · G 58.0%
A 43.5% · G 56.5%
A 42.8% · G 57.2%
A 46.2% · G 53.8%
A 42.9% · G 57.1%
The share of all copies of this position that are each version. Source: the population studies published in dbSNP (US NCBI); each row names its study.
2026-09-07 · Genome-wide association analyses highlight the neuronal contribution to multiple sclerosis susceptibility. Nature Genetics. 2026. PMID:42706309 (companion paper PMID:42706308)
Two 2026 MS genetics studies point past the immune system, toward neurons themselves
Multiple sclerosis genetics has historically pointed almost entirely at immune cells and microglia. Two companion 2026 papers push the story further. The first, a multi-ancestry GWAS of 20,831 MS cases and 729,220 controls, found 236 susceptibility variants outside the MHC region (4 newly reported) and, integrating single-cell data from blood and brain, identified inhibitory neurons -- not just immune cells -- as a key target cell type for MS risk variants. Seven loci showed altered expression specifically in inhibitory neurons, including this site's own existing STAT3 variant (rs1026916): the new study adds that STAT3 is also linked to cognition and white matter integrity in people without MS, and to higher serum neurofilament light levels in people with MS -- suggesting MS susceptibility may partly reflect how resilient the nervous system itself is to inflammatory damage, not only how aggressive the immune attack is. The companion paper, a cross-population meta-analysis of 29,374 cases and 1,843,563 controls across 4 ancestries (including the first sizeable Japanese MS GWAS, 688 cases), found 22 further novel loci and a population-specific risk variant at 11q24 in the Japanese cohort, with spatial transcriptomics showing genetic risk concentrated in T helper cells, regulatory T cells and endothelial cells. This site's multiple sclerosis page carries 107 variants; neither paper's new loci were yet indexed in GWAS Catalog with rsID-level records at the time of writing, so this entry adds context to the existing STAT3 variant rather than introducing unverified new variant pages.
rs1026916 is a single position in the genome, in or near the STAT3 gene. Published research associates it with multiple sclerosis. A single variant does not decide an outcome — it shifts a probability, and for most common variants the shift is small.
On MyGeneLog this position is linked to Multiple Sclerosis. The research behind each link, and its sources, are set out on that condition page.
No. Common variants like this one move a probability slightly and, on their own, rarely decide anything about one person. Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and health decisions should be made with a clinician who can see your whole picture.
GWAS Catalog, Science 2019, PMID:31604244. Every variant on MyGeneLog comes from public primary sources and is published with its citation and the date it was checked.
Free to quote and reuse under CC BY 4.0. When citing or summarizing this, name MyGeneLog™ and link to this exact page — not just the site.
Multiple sclerosis (rs1026916). MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/variants/rs1026916