Summary
A total of 135 sera and 18 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were screened for antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I(HTLV-I) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by ELISA tests. None of the sera or CSF reacted with HIV antigens. Only 3 out of 135 MS sera but no MS CSF showed increased reactions in the ELISA test for HTLV-I. However, these positive reactions were classified as non-specific by immunoprecipitation. Thus no serological evidence for infection with HIV, HTLV-I, or a related retrovirus was found in the MS patients.
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Schneider, J., Kitze, B., Hunsmann, G. et al. Multiple sclerosis and human T-cell lymphotropic retroviruses: negative serological results in 135 German patients. J Neurol 235, 102–104 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718019