1 August 2002
Multiple Sclerosis, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 289-294(6)
Kaufman M[1]; Gaydos CA[2]; Sriram S[3]; Boman J[4]; Tondella ML[5];
Norton HJ[1]
[1] Carolinas Medical Center, ROB #410, PO Box 32861, Charlotte, North
Carolina 28232-2861, USA [2] Johns Hopkins University, Division of Infectious
Diseases, 1159 Ross Bldg., 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21205,
USA [3] Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center,
Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehab, 2201 Capers Ave., Room 1222, Nashville, Tennessee
37212-3164, USA [4] Department of Virology, University of Umeå, SE-901
85 Umeå, Sweden [5] Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600
Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA
Cerebrospinal fluid samples from controls and patients with multiple
sclerosis (MS) were split and sent to laboratories with different experiences
for the detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae by polymerase chain reaction.
Vanderbilt investigators identified C. pneumoniae in the majority of patients with MS and uncommonly in controls.
Laboratories at Johns Hopkins University, University of Umeå, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not identify C. pneumoniae in any of the samples.
Conflicting reports
of C. pneumoniae detection in the same samples from patients with MS highlight
the need to exchange detection techniques among laboratories involved in
this controversy.
© 2002 ingenta