Why the study?
Is there a significant frequency of human retrovirus antibodies (HTLV-I, II, III) in patients with MS and other neurologic diseases compared to controls?
Is there a significant frequency of human retrovirus antibodies (HTLV-I, II, III) in patients with MS and other neurologic diseases compared to controls?
This study found no evidence of human retrovirus antibodies (HTLV-I, II, III) in patients with multiple sclerosis or other neurologic diseases, contradicting a previous report.
No HTLV antibody link to MS found; challenges prior reports but leaves retroviral etiology open for larger studies.
We have studied the frequency of human retrovirus antibody (HTLV-I, II, III) in the serum and CSF of patients with MS, matched controls, and patients with optic neuritis, idiopathic and postencephalitic Parkinson's disease, neuropathies, polymyositis, ALS, and postpoliomyelitis. Except for the postpoliomyelitis samples, all samples were collected prior to 1980. Contrary to a previous published report, no significant levels of antibody to HTLV-I, II, or III were found in the MS patients or controls. No retrovirus antibody was detected in patients with the other neurologic diseases.
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Madden et al. (1988) studied this question.
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