title: Saffold cardiovirus and multiple sclerosis: no evidence for an association.
abstract: Saffold cardiovirus, a newly discovered human cardiovirus, has close similarity with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) which can cause a chronic demyelinating encephalomyelitis in mice. In this study, we tested whether Saffold cardiovirus infection of the brain is associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Autopsy white matter samples from 19 MS and 9 normal brain donors were tested by polymerase chain reaction. All were negative. Paired cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples from 24 MS patients and 27 controls were tested for Saffold cardiovirus-specific oligoclonal bands, two patients and two controls reacted positive. We conclude that an association between Saffold cardiovirus and MS is highly improbable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jochem M D
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Galama
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Zoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kjerstin H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lanke
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arjan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: Neuroimmunology Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Melief
authors.affiliation: Neuroimmunology Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Huitinga
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Laboratory Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Verbeek
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ; Virology Division, Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank J M
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: van Kuppeveld