Intrathecal polyspecific immune response to neurotropic viruses in multiple sclerosis: a comparative report from Cuban patients

• Published in: Acta neurologica Scandinavica Vol. 115; no. 5; pp. 312 - 318
• Main Authors: Robinson-Agramonte, M., Reiber, H., Cabrera-Gomez, J. A., Galvizu, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-05-2007; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Age Distribution; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antibodies, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; Biological and medical sciences; cerebrospinal fluid; Cuba - ethnology; Encephalitis, Varicella Zoster - immunology; epidemiology; Female; Germany - epidemiology; Herpesvirus 3, Human - immunology; Humans; Immunization - statistics & numerical data; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin A - cerebrospinal fluid; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Immunoglobulin G - cerebrospinal fluid; Immunoglobulin M - blood; Immunoglobulin M - cerebrospinal fluid; intrathecal antibodies; Male; measles; Measles - immunology; Measles virus - immunology; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; multiple sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis - epidemiology; Multiple Sclerosis - immunology; Multiple Sclerosis - virology; Nervous system involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous; Neurology; rubella; Rubella - immunology; Rubella virus - immunology; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Sex Distribution; tropics; varicella zoster; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Cuba; Germany; Human; Rubella; Skin disease; Multiple sclerosis; Nervous system diseases; Immune response; intrathecal antibodies; Antibody; varicella zoster; Cerebrospinal fluid; Epidemiology; Inflammatory disease; Infection; Viral disease; Measles; tropics; Central nervous system disease; Varicella; Intrathecal
• ISSN: 0001-6314; 1600-0404
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2006.00755.x

Objectives–  Intrathecal measles(M)‐ rubella(R)‐ and varicella zoster(Z)‐antibody synthesis in German and Cuban multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are compared considering the different rubella epidemiology in the tropics.
Patients and methods –  Twenty‐three Cuban MS patients with a representative age distribution and gender ratio like the group of 177 German MS patients were analysed for albumin, IgG, IgA IgM, oligoclonal IgG and MRZ‐ antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum.
Results –  Cuban MS patients show similar CSF data patterns like German patients and high frequencies of intrathecal measles‐ (78/78%) and varicella zoster‐ (59/55%) antibody synthesis correspondingly. A lower frequency of intrathecal rubella antibody synthesis (rubella‐AI ≥ 1.5) in Cuban patients (30%, gender ratio of increased rubella ‐ AI m:f = 1:6) compared with German patients (60%, m:f = 1:1.8) is explained by low incidence of rubella infections in Cuba. Only about 10% of the male population (not immunized before 1986, in contrast to females) had rubella antibodies compared to at least 60% in a European male population, representing the relation of increased rubella‐AI in male MS patients.
Conclusion –  In MS the frequency of intrathecal antibody synthesis is limited by the fraction of seropositives in the population. Natural infection or vaccination are a necessary and equivalent precondition contributing to the arguments against microorganisms as a cause of MS.