title: Low prevalence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in India and Africa: is there a biological explanation?
abstract: Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clade C virus is the most common form of HIV infection in the world. It largely infects populations in Africa and Asia and not much is known about the neurological complications associated with the virus. Cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) have been rarely reported in the literature in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or non-AIDS populations from these regions. In this article, the authors present three recently diagnosed patients with AIDS and PML from one neurological center in India, review the diagnostic challenges faced, and speculate on the possible biological reasons, including viral strain differences as well as HIV and JC virus interactions, that may account for the low incidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Satishchandra
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Yasha
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nagaraja
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Taly
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhakar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nath
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D006678:HIV / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007577:JC Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D007968:Leukoencephalopathy, Progressive Multifocal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors