LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR MAREKS-DISEASE VIRUS GENOMIC SEQUENCES IN LEUKOCYTE DNA FROM MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS PATIENTS IN GERMANY

Herpes viruses have repeatedly been associated with the etiology of mu ltiple sclerosis (MS). In the course of investigations on a cluster of MS patients in Key West, Florida, it was suggested that Marek's disea se virus (MDV), a cell-associated avian herpes virus, might be involve d in the pathogenesis of the disease. The aim of our study was to inve stigate 107 well-defined MS patients with regard to latent MDV infecti on. Using a highly-sensitive polymerase chain reaction technique, we d id not find MDV-related sequences in leukocyte DNA of any of the patie nts. The results of our study do not suggest an implication of MDV in the pathogenesis of MS. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rig hts reserved.