Re: News - Multiple Sclerosis Linked to HHV-6A Virus

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

This is very interesting and I was reminded of Tim's

story. I'm wondering if researchers aren't finally

onto something here.

Ciao

Elio

--- Case Health Pty Ltd <casehealth@...>

wrote:

> Multiple Sclerosis Linked to HHV-6A Virus

>

> Evidence Presented at American Neurology Association

> Annual Meeting

>

> SAN DIEGO, Oct. 5, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dr. Claude

> Genain of the University of California San Francisco

> Medical Center presented evidence at the American

> Neurology Association Annual Meeting this week that

> shows a direct link between human herpes virus 6

> variant A (HHV-6A) and a multiple sclerosis-like

> illness.

>

> Dr. Genain injected common marmoset monkeys with

> HHV-6 variants A & B. Most notably, only infection

> with HHV-6 variant A resulted in illness. The

> monkeys developed lab evidence and signs of chronic

> autoimmune demyelination of the central nervous

> system, the hallmark of multiple sclerosis. This is

> the first time that any animal infected with HHV-6A

> has developed clinical pathology of the central

> nervous system, and the most direct evidence to date

> of a possible causal connection between HHV-6A and

> multiple sclerosis.

>

> Dr. Genain's marmoset developed weight loss and

> paralysis with sensory deficits after exposure to

> HHV-6A. Inflammatory lesions of the central nervous

> system and evidence of demyelination were seen on

> MRI and microscope slides of the brain tissue.

> However, the important finding of the study was

> direct evidence of the presence of HHV-6 viral

> antigen within the nerve cells of the brain stained

> with an HHV-6-specific antibody.

>

> HHV-6 variant B (HHV-6B) causes roseola, a

> self-limited fever and rash, in over 95% of young

> children by age 2. After the initial illness, HHV-6

> persists indefinitely in its quiescent, latent form

> in the cells of the central nervous system, bone

> marrow and immune system. However, HHV-6 can

> reemerge and actively replicate later in life,

> producing new virus particles that can cause

> illness. HHV-6 can reactivate in immunosuppressed

> patients and cause life threatening complications,

> such as opportunistic infections and encephalitis,

> in post-transplant patients.

>

> The quest for a theory of viruses as a causative

> agent for multiple sclerosis and other diseases has

> long eluded scientists. A direct link between

> infection with HHV-6A and multiple sclerosis has

> been lacking until now.

>

> According to Dr. Genain, " For the first time,

> scientists will be able to look into the biological

> process leading to multiple sclerosis at its very

> beginning, when no one suspects the disease and

> people have not yet experienced its symptoms. " In

> recent years there has been a considerable degree of

> interest in the relationship between HHV-6A and

> multiple sclerosis, because HHV-6A DNA has

> repeatedly been found in brain tissue and the

> cerebrospinal fluid of affected patients, and

> increased levels of antibodies to viral antigens in

> their blood only present during replication of

> HHV-6A are frequently detected.

>

> A comprehensive analysis presented by Dr. Dharam

> Ablashi, co-discoverer of HHV-6 and Scientific

> Director of the HHV-6 Foundation, at the

> International Fatigue Conference on Fatigue Science

> held during February 2005 in Osaka, Japan, discussed

> all clinical studies published in the medical

> literature on the association between HHV-6A and

> multiple sclerosis.

>

> His summary of the existing literature demonstrates

> that when lab methods detecting the presence of

> active HHV-6A infection are used, an exceptionally

> strong, statistically significant association

> between HHV-6A and both multiple sclerosis and

> chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is consistently seen.

> Lab methods that detect latent HHV-6A virus are not

> able to consistently identify either MS or CFS

> patients.

>

> Having an experimental animal model linking HHV-6A

> infection to central nervous system pathology will

> open the door to new types of research

> investigations. The common marmoset has a well-known

> propensity to develop experimental autoimmune

> encephalitis, a chemically-induced animal model of

> multiple sclerosis that is commonly used when

> investigating the efficacy of new MS drugs. The

> inflammatory demyelination of nerve cells in a live

> primate model after exposure to the HHV-6A virus has

> now been demonstrated for the first time. This

> marmoset model will add a new dimension to the drug

> discovery and development process for multiple

> sclerosis.

>

> Dr. Ablashi, who has published numerous medical

> studies demonstrating the causative role of human

> and primate herpes viruses in various types of

> lymphomas and leukemia, commented, " Nonhuman

> primates are genetically closest to man. Dr.

> Genain's pathogenic model of HHV-6A infection in the

> common marmoset will enhance our understanding of

> the role that the HHV-6A virus plays in the

> induction of typical MS lesions. This model will be

> very important in the study of the disease process,

> and evaluation of new molecules that can prevent

> active HHV-6A viral infection and the development of

> multiple sclerosis. "

>

> Dr. Genain's work was supported by grants from the

> HHV-6 Foundation, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Cure

> MS Now, DANA Foundation and Lunardi Foundation.

>

> http://www.hhv-6foundation.org

> Dr. Claude Genain claudeg@...

> Primezone Newsroom:

> http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/news.html?d=87395

>

>

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