Evaluation of clinical samples for virus detection for CNS disease

National Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke

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Abstract

The Viral Analysis Unit of the LMMN has evaluated over 2000 clinical samples including CSF, plasma and serum for the detection of JC Virus genome sequences. This finding is diagnostic for PML, a rare but mostly fatal disease of the brain. The LMMN receives many such samples from around the world in circumstances in which diagnosis cannot be made on clear clinical findings alone. The VAU has made humdreds of determinations on such samples and provided critical information to neurologists and their patients for future medical care and treatment. In a survey of hundreds of plasma samples, it became clear that over 2% of the population worldwide can be viremic and that approximately 1% of the population is persistently viremic. Such numbers in a well defined and reliable assay system. The nature of the treatment that such viremic patients may receive for underlying diseases particularly that are classified as autoimmune diseases i.e. Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, Systemic Lupus Erythymatosis.