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Mary, here they used the correct method of testing the polymerase chain
reaction, instead of the antibody testing that has proven to show false
negatives in the past, however, they are not clearly indicating just
how many of the controls (alzheimers, parkinsons, non-neurological
diseases) were from parkinsons' patients.
                             Linda Forrest's Mom

Title
     Detection of herpesviridae in postmortem multiple sclerosis brain
tissue and controls by
     polymerase chain reaction.
Author
     Sanders VJ; Felisan S; Waddell A; Tourtellotte WW
Address
     Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine 90095, USA.
Source
     J Neurovirol, 2(4):249-58 1996 Aug
Abstract
     OBJECTIVE: To test for the presence of herpesviruses in postmortem
brain samples from
     multiple sclerosis patients and controls using polymerase chain
reaction. BACKGROUND:
     Herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus,
cytomegalovirus, and human
     herpesvirus-6 are common viruses capable of persistence and
latency. All have been detected in
     the CNS. METHODS: Active and inactive plaque tissue, unaffected
white matter (WM) and
     gray matter (GM) from MS cases, and WM and GM controls (Alzheimer's
disease, Parkinson's
     disease and non-neurological disease) were screened for the
herpesvirus by PCR. RESULTS:
     (1) 37% of the MS cases were positive for herpes simplex virus
(HSV). Twenty-eight percent of
     controls cases were positive for HSV. Forty-one percent of active
plaques were positive for
     HSV in contrast to only 20% of inactive plaques (Sanders et al,
1996). (2) 57% of the MS cases
     and 43% of the control cases were positive for HHV-6. Thirty-two
percent of the active plaques
     contained HHV-6 compared to 17% of inactive plaques. (3) 43% of the
MS cases and 32% of
     the control cases were positive for VZV. Fourteen percent of the
active plaques and 10% of the
     inactive plaques were positive for VZV. (4) 27% of MS cases and 38%
of control cases were
     positive for EBV. Five percent of the active plaques were positive
for EBV and 10% of the
     inactive plaques were positive. (5) 16% of the MS cases and 22% of
the controls were positive
     for CMV. Nine percent of the active plaques and 10% of the inactive
plaques were positive. We
     also compared MS WM and GM with controls and found no significant
difference.
     CONCLUSIONS: HSV, HHV-6, and VZV were present in a greater
frequency of MS cases
     compared to controls; however, no statistical differences were
noted. The presence of
     herpesvirus in all tissue makes an etiologic association to MS
uncertain. Cellular localization of
     virus and its relationship to pathology and latency may reveal an
association.
Language
     Eng
Unique Identifier
     96392428



MESH Headings
     Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Autopsy; Base Sequence; Brain
(*VI); Cytomegalovirus
     (GE/IP); DNA Primers (ST); DNA, Viral (AN/IP); Female;
Herpesviridae (*GE/*IP);
     Herpesvirus 3, Human (GE/IP); Herpesvirus 4, Human (GE/IP);
Herpesvirus 6, Human (GE/IP);
     Human; Male; Middle Age; Multiple Sclerosis (*VI); Polymerase Chain
Reaction (*MT/ST)



Publication Type
     JOURNAL ARTICLE
ISSN
     1355-0284
Country of Publication
     ENGLAND


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