Bob, thanks for helping to keep the information on the  list  updated,  on
track and factual....Joan Hartman

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert A. Fink, M. D. <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 7:46 PM
Subject: Viruses and MS/Parkinson's


> A week or so ago, there was a series of postings (I think that Ivan was
> the main poster) about the possible relationship between viruses and
> the cause of Parkinson's disease.  This logic was also extended to
> multiple sclerosis by others, and the Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6)
> was mentioned prominently.  At the time, I urged caution regarding
> some sweeping comments which were being made on this List
> regarding this material.
>
> I asked my Medical Library to access some articles on the issue, and I
> found an excellent Guest Editorial, which appeared in the Journal of
> NeuroVirology (1998) 4, 471-473.  The Editorial is entitled,
> "Association of human herpesvirus-6 and multiple sclerosis: here we
> go again?", and the author is Dr. Steven Jacobson, Chief of the Viral
> Immunology Section, National Institutes of Neurologic Disorders and
> Stroke, in Bethesda, Maryland.
>
> Table 1 reports the huge number of viruses which have been
> implicated in the past concerning multiple sclerosis.  These include:
>
> Rabies     1946, 1964
> Herpes simplex    1964
> Scrapie agent    1965
> "Multiple sclerosis associated agent"    1962
> Parainfluenza 1    1972
> Measles    1972
> Simian virus 5    1978
> Canine distemper virus    1978
> Chimpanzee cytomegalovirus    1979
> Coronovirus    1980
> SMON-like virus    1982
> Tick-borne encephalitis    1982
> HTLV-I    1986
> LM7, MSRV (retrovirus)    1989, 1997
> HSV-I    1989
> MS1533 (retrovirus)    1994
> HHV-6    1993, 1995
>
> None of these agents have been proven as a cause of multiple
> sclerosis or PD.
>
> The last paragraph of the article reads:
>
> The search for a viral etiology in MS has led investigators in many
> directions for so many years.  As presented in this editorial, extreme
> caution must be exercised in the interpretations of virus-associations
> and neurologic disease.  Will a single viral agent ever be shown to be
> involved in MS or will multiple viral 'triggers' be associated with
> disease?  If a virus is known to be ubiquitous, how can definitive
> proof of cause and the effect be established?  In the absence of such
> proof, can anti-viral therapeutic strategies be rationally applied in MS
> clinical trials? [there is even less association with PD and thus even
> less indication for such therapeutic trials].  Would the failure of such a
> trial rule out a virus association?  There and many other questions
> remain unaswered.  Investigations to confirm or refute virus
> association in MS undoubtedly will lead us into new areas of
> neurovirological research where information is being acquired at an
> expanding rate.....
>
> The entire article should be available at good medical libraries.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Bob
>
>
> **********************************************
> Robert A. Fink, M. D., F.A.C.S., P. C.
> 2500 Milvia Street  Suite 222
> Berkeley, California  94704-2636
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>
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>
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