title: Aquaporin 4 antibody positive central nervous system autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis are characterized by a distinct profile of antibodies to herpes viruses.
abstract: Viral infections are implicated in the onset and promotion of autoimmunity in genetically predisposed individuals. In this study, immune response patterns to herpes viruses were compared in aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody positive central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis (MS). Serum samples of patients with AQP4 antibody positive CNS autoimmunity (n=52), relapsing-remitting MS (n=55) and controls including non-autoimmune neurological disorders and healthy individuals (n=56) were tested for IgG antibodies to herpes viruses 1-6 (HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, EBV, CMV, HHV-6) using commercial ELISA kits. AQP4 antibody positive CNS autoimmunity cases most frequently had IgG responses to four viruses (38.5%), while presence of antibodies to three herpes viruses was most common in MS and controls (41.8% and 35.7%, respectively). Compared to MS, AQP4 positive cases had a significantly higher CMV seropositivity rate (P=0.003) and a lower prevalence of EBV antibodies (P=0.01). The analysis of immunoreactivity of samples above the diagnostic threshold revealed that in AQP4 positive CNS autoimmunity the IgG response to EBV (P<0.001) and VZV (P<0.01) was lower than in MS, whereas immununoreactivity to HSV-1 was higher than in controls (P<0.01). The distinct pattern of seroprevalence and immunoreactivity against herpes viruses in AQP4 positive CNS autoimmunity and MS provide further insights to the pathogenetical heterogeneity. Whether these findings reflect an epi-phenomenon of autoimmune disorders or indicate a disease-specific deregulated virus-host interaction needs to be examined in further studies.
authors: Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, München, Germany. sellner@lrz.tum.de
authors: Johann
authors: J
authors: Sellner
authors: Sabine
authors: S
authors: Cepok
authors: Sudhakar Reddy
authors: SR
authors: Kalluri
authors: Axel
authors: A
authors: Nestler
authors: Ingo
authors: I
authors: Kleiter
authors: Tania
authors: T
authors: Kümpfel
authors: Ralf
authors: R
authors: Linker
authors: Arthur
authors: A
authors: Melms
authors: Til
authors: T
authors: Menge
authors: Hayrettin
authors: H
authors: Tumani
authors: Friedemann
authors: F
authors: Paul
authors: Bernhard
authors: B
authors: Hemmer
authors: Achim
authors: A
authors: Berthele
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology*; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: C496030:AQP4 protein, human; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D051401:Aquaporin 4; D007074:Immunoglobulin G