This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1352458508096870v1 1352458508096870v2 15/1/28    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Iacobaeus, E Articles by Major, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Iacobaeus, E Articles by Major, E. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and cerebrospinal fluid cells from patients with multiple sclerosis for detection of JC virus DNA

¹ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Neuroimmunology Unit, Karolinska Institute at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden;
² The Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, USA; The Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
³ The Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
⁴ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Neuroimmunology Unit, Karolinska Institute at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Objective

1) To determine whether JC virus (JCV) DNA was present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in comparison with controls and 2) to find out if our clinical material, based on presence of JCV DNA, included any patient at risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Methods

The prevalence of JCV DNA was analyzed in CSF and plasma from 217 patients with MS, 86 patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), and 212 patients with other neurological diseases (OND). In addition, we analyzed CSF cells, the first report of JCV DNA in CSF cells in a single sample, and peripheral blood cells in a subgroup of MS (n = 49), CIS (n = 14) and OND (n = 53).

Results

A low copy number of JCV DNA was detected in one MS cell free CSF sample and in one MS CSF cell samples. None of these had any signs of PML or developed this disease during follow-up. In addition, two OND plasma samples were JCV DNA positive, whereas all the other samples had no detectable virus.

Conclusion

A low copy number of JCV DNA may occasionally be observed both in MS and other diseases and may occur as part of the normal biology of JC virus in humans. This study does not support the hypothesis that patients with MS would be at increased risk to develop PML, and consequently screening of CSF as a measurable risk for PML is not useful.

Key Words: cerebrospinal fluid, JC virus DNA, multiple sclerosis, progressive multifocal, leukoencephalopathy

First published on September 19, 2008, doi:10.1177/1352458508096870

Multiple Sclerosis 2009;15:28.

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Linda, A. von Heijne, E. O. Major, C. Ryschkewitsch, J. Berg, T. Olsson, and C. Martin Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy after Natalizumab Monotherapy N. Engl. J. Med., September 10, 2009; 361(11): 1081 - 1087. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]