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Herpes Virus Suspected as Cause of Multiple Sclerosis | |
By DR. HERMAN WEINREB A virus called herpes simplex-6 has emerged as the newest candidate for the cause of multiple sclerosis. The case is far from proven. It is based on a report from a California virologist who found a high concentration of antibodies against herpes simplex-6 in patients with multiple sclerosis. A number of medical centers are following up that lead. But no one in the field will be greatly surprised if the California report is not corroborated. Multiple sclerosis is a mystery disease, in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the myelin sheaths that cover nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. In one form of the disease, patients have sudden flare-ups of weakness, imbalance, numbness and fatigue after periods of remission, which can last for months or years. In another form, there is an irreversible progression that eventually can be fatal. Neurologists have long postulated that a viral infection somehow triggers the harmful immunological response. Their reasons include the fact that many patients with multiple sclerosis suffer flare-ups after any viral infection, indicating that a virus set off the initial abnormal immunological reaction. But no definite proof has emerged as yet. A number of different viruses have been described at one time or another as possible causes of MS, including the virus that causes measles. None has conclusively passed the test. Herpes simplex-6 is a member of a large family of viruses. Other members include Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis and the viruses that cause chickenpox, cold sores, shingles and smallpox. One reason for suspecting herpes simplex-6 is that some of its viral relatives can cause such conditions as spinal cord paralysis due to severe immunological reactions. The herpes viruses integrate themselves into a cell's genetic material and may remain dormant or cause the cell to produce more viruses. Proof that herpes simplex-6 is the cause could lead to new treatment for MS. Steroid drugs and beta-interferons currently are used to treat the flare-ups in intermittent MS. There is no proven effective treatment for the progressive form, although physicians have tried the arthritis drug, methotrexate, and cladrabiene, a drug used for chemotherapy of leukemia. --- Dr. Herman Weinreb is Assistant Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine. Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |