Aquaporin 4 antibody positive central nervous system autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis are characterized by a distinct profile of antibodies to herpes viruses

作者：Sellner Johann^*; Cepok Sabine; Kalluri Sudhakar Reddy; Nestle Axel; Kleiter Ingo; Kuempfel Tania; Linker Ralf; Melms Arthur; Menge Til; Tumani Hayrettin; Paul Friedemann; Hemmer Bernhard; Berthele Achim

来源：Neurochemistry International, 2010, 57(6): 662-667.

DOI：10.1016/j.neuint.2010.08.003

• Neuromyelitis optica
• Multiple sclerosis
• Infection
• Herpes virus
• Pathogenesis
• Aquaporin-4

Viral infections are implicated in the onset and promotion of autoimmunity in genetically predisposed individuals. In this study, immune response patterns to herpes viruses were compared in aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody positive central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Serum samples of patients with AQP4 antibody positive CNS autoimmunity (n = 52), relapsing-remitting MS (n = 55) and controls including non-autoimmune neurological disorders and healthy individuals (n = 56) were tested for IgG antibodies to herpes viruses 1-6 (HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, EBV, CMV, HHV-6) using commercial ELISA kits.
AQP4 antibody positive CNS autoimmunity cases most frequently had IgG responses to four viruses (38.5%), while presence of antibodies to three herpes viruses was most common in MS and controls (41.8% and 35.7%, respectively). Compared to MS, AQP4 positive cases had a significantly higher CMV seropositivity rate (P = 0.003) and a lower prevalence of EBV antibodies (P = 0.01). The analysis of immunoreactivity of samples above the diagnostic threshold revealed that in AQP4 positive CNS autoimmunity the IgG response to EBV (P < 0.001) and VZV (P < 0.01) was lower than in MS, whereas immununoreactivity to HSV-1 was higher than in controls (P < 0.01).
The distinct pattern of seroprevalence and immunoreactivity against herpes viruses in AQP4 positive CNS autoimmunity and MS provide further insights to the pathogenetical heterogeneity. Whether these findings reflect an epi-phenomenon of autoimmune disorders or indicate a disease-specific deregulated virus-host interaction needs to be examined in further studies.

• 出版日期2010-11