Antibodies to molluscum contagiosum virus in the general population and susceptible patients

Background: Since many attempts to cultivate molluscum contagiosum virus (M CV) in vitro have been unsuccessful, it is difficult to prepare a large qua ntity of antigens. To assess the seroprevalence of antibodies against MCV i n 508 subjects with or without clinical MCV infection, a truncated recombin ant protein from open-reading frame MC133L was synthesized using Sendai vir us expression system and applied to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as an antigen. Observations: Antibodies to MCV were present in 7 (58%) of 12 patients with molluscum contagiosum, 7 (6%) of 108 healthy controls, 7 (9%) of 76 with a topic dermatitis, and 7 (18%) of 39 patients with systemic lupus erythemato sus, although no clinical MCV infection was observed in the latter 3 groups . Of 7 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients with molluscum contagiosum, 1 (14%) was antibody positive, compared with 5 (2%) of 266 HIV -positive patients without molluscum contagiosum. Serum samples from patien ts with atopic dermatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus showed a higher reactivity (P<.001) than those from healthy controls, while serum samples f rom HIV-positive subjects showed a lower reactivity (P<.001). Conclusion: The humoral immune response to MCV is usually confined to patie nts with molluscum contagiosum and may be affected by the immunological con dition of the host.