Viral antibodies in multiple sclerosis. A nationwide co-twin study
E. Kinnunen, M. Valle, L. Piirainen, M. Kleemola, M. L. Kantanen, J. Juntunen, M. Klockars and M. Koskenvuo
Clinical Neurosciences, Institute of Occupational Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Serum viral antibody titers against 21 viruses were studied in 19 of 23
same-sex twin pairs with multiple sclerosis derived from the Finnish Twin
Cohort. Thorough neurologic examinations showed two monozygotic pairs to be
concordant, whereas all dizygotic pairs were discordant. Special attention
was given to measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, against which the
antibody levels were determined with the complement fixation,
hemagglutination inhibition, hemolysis-ingel, and enzyme immunoassay
methods. Epstein-Barr virus antibody levels were determined by enzyme
assay. In pairwise comparisons, the measles, mumps, and Epstein-Barr
virus-IgG antibody levels were more often elevated in the patients with
multiple sclerosis, compared with the healthy co-twins. The same antibody
levels were more often above the median in the diseased twin, compared with
the healthy twin, but the difference was not significant. No human T-cell
lymphotropic virus type I antibodies were found in any of the individuals
examined. The total IgG, IgA, and IgM levels did not differ between the
diseased and healthy subjects. The HLA types, severity of the disease, and
cell-mediated immunity parameters did not influence antibody levels.
