Intrathecal, Polyspecific Antiviral Immune Response in Oligoclonal Band Negative Multiple Sclerosis

PLoS One

Isabel Brecht¹  Klaus Viktor Toyka¹  Andreas Weishaupt¹  Mathias Buttmann¹  Julia Braun²  Benedikt Weissbrich² 

[1] Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany;Institute of Virology and Immunobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

关键词: Multiple sclerosis;    Cerebrospinal fluid;    Antiviral immune response;    Antibodies;    Diagnostic medicine;    Central nervous system;    Measles virus;    Varicella zoster virus;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.pone.0040431

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Background Oligoclonal bands (OCB) are detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in more than 95% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Western hemisphere. Here we evaluated the intrathecal, polyspecific antiviral immune response as a potential diagnostic CSF marker for OCB-negative MS patients. Methodology/Principal Findings We tested 46 OCB-negative German patients with paraclinically well defined, definite MS. Sixteen OCB-negative patients with a clear diagnosis of other autoimmune CNS disorders and 37 neurological patients without evidence for autoimmune CNS inflammation served as control groups. Antibodies against measles, rubella, varicella zoster and herpes simplex virus in paired serum and CSF samples were determined by ELISA, and virus-specific immunoglobulin G antibody indices were calculated. An intrathecal antibody synthesis against at least one neurotropic virus was detected in 8 of 26 (31%) patients with relapsing-remitting MS, 8 of 12 (67%) with secondary progressive MS and 5 of 8 (63%) with primary progressive MS, in 3 of 16 (19%) CNS autoimmune and 3 of 37 (8%) non-autoimmune control patients. Antibody synthesis against two or more viruses was found in 11 of 46 (24%) MS patients but in neither of the two control groups. On average, MS patients with a positive antiviral immune response were older and had a longer disease duration than those without. Conclusion Determination of the intrathecal, polyspecific antiviral immune response may allow to establish a CSF-supported diagnosis of MS in OCB-negative patients when two or more of the four virus antibody indices are elevated.

【 授权许可】

CC BY