Retroviruses and multiple sclerosis. I. Analysis of seroreactivity by western blot and radioimmune assay

Neurology. 1990 Aug;40(8):1251-3. doi: 10.1212/wnl.40.8.1251.

Abstract

We were unable to identify an antibody to either HTLV-I or HIV-1 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by ELISA, by radioimmune assay, or by radioimmune precipitation techniques. Immunoblot studies for HTLV-I-specific antibodies revealed faintly reactive bands in 2 of 44 MS patients but not in patients with other neurologic diseases. We did not find seroreactivity to HIV-1 or to the distantly related retrovirus, caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV). These findings suggest that MS is not related to infection by human retroviruses with antigenic similarity to HTLV-I, HIV-1, or CAEV.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Blotting, Western
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • HIV Antibodies / analysis
  • HIV Seropositivity
  • HIV-1 / isolation & purification
  • HTLV-I Antibodies / analysis
  • Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / isolation & purification
  • Humans
  • Multiple Sclerosis / immunology
  • Multiple Sclerosis / microbiology*
  • Nervous System Diseases / immunology
  • Nervous System Diseases / microbiology
  • Radioimmunoassay
  • Reference Values
  • Retroviridae / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • HIV Antibodies
  • HTLV-I Antibodies