Multiple Sclerosis, December 2001,
vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 371-374(4)
Chlamydia pneumoniae infection is
a common event in neurological patients and recovery of C. pneumoniae DNA
in the cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients could
represent an epiphenomenon.
We assessed the relevance of C. pneumoniae
infection in 62 CSF samples from 32 MS patients and 30 neurological controls
by means of PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, enzyme-linked fluorescence
and antibody detection.
Multiple sclerosis (9.3%) and neurological
controls (13.3) had similar percentage of anti-C. pneumoniae antibodies.
However, C. pneumoniae DNA was only
detectable in MS patients' CSF (9.3%).
Our data support the hypothesis that
C. pneumoniae persistence in some MS patients may be the result of an impaired
clearance within the central nervous system.
© 2002 ingenta
Sotgiu S. [1] *; Piana A. [2]; Pugliatti
M. [1]; Sotgiu A. [1]; Deiana G.A. [1]; Sgaramella E. [3]; Muresu E. [2];
Rosati G. [1]
[1] Istituto di Clinica Neurologica,
Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy [2] Istituto di Igiene e Medicina
Preventiva, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy [3] Istituto di
Neurochirurgia, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy [*] Correspondence:
S Sotgiu, Instituto di Clinica Neurologica, Università di Sassari,
Viale San Pietro, 10, I-07100-Sassari, Italy
Abstract: