Serological response of multiple sclerosis patients and controls to 6/94-parainfluenza virus

Summary The serological responses of 195 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 251 controls were tested against 6/94-parainfluenza virus, which was previously isolated from brain tissue of two patients with MS. The hemagglutination-inhibition titers of 1:128 were found more frequently in MS patients (21.5%) than in controls (14.0%). However, the geometric mean titers did not differ between these two groups. The present study concludes that a causal relationship of 6/94-virus to MS, based on a specific immune response, is improbable, although it does not exclude the possibility of a pathogenetic significance of the agent in the cases from which the autopsy material was derived.Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Schwerpunkt Ätiologie und Pathogenese der Multiplen Sklerose und verwandter Erkrankungen)