Anti-HSV-2 antibody in patients with MS and NMO

Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system. There is growing evidence that viruses may play a causal role in these diseases. Human herpes viruses have been of special attention since their DNA have been detected in many of MS patients' samples. Human herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a member of this family which has not been investigated thoroughly in MS and NMO. Methods: We took blood samples from 90 subjects including 30 RRMS patients, 30 NMO patients and 30 healthy controls. After serum isolation, all serum samples were frozen at - 70 degrees C to be used for enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of specific antibodies against HSV-2. Presence or absence of antibodies against HSV-2 was determined based on the cut-off calibrator and index values were then determined. A value of <0.9: negative, between 0.9 and 1.1: equivocal and <1.1: positive. Results: Mean age of all subjects was 33.36 and female to male ratio was 4.3/1. None of the subjects were seropositive for anti-HSV-2 antibody. Analysis indicated no significant differences (P-value >0.05) among antibody levels between MS (0.19 +/- 0.08), NMO (0.22 +/- 0.16) and control (0.21 +/- 0.09) groups. There were also no correlations between mean antibody index or O.D. and subjects' sex, family history, blood group, smoking history, age and presence of visual-motor-sensory or other forms of disability in any of the three MS, NMO and control groups (P-value > 0.05). Conclusion: We found no associations between patients' diagnosis of MS or NMO and mean anti-HSV-2 antibody index and O.D. levels.