The involvement of human T-cell leukemia viruses (HTLVs) in the pathogenesis of 18 Hungarian patients with multiple sclerosis was investigated. No antibody to HTLVs could be detected in any of the patients. Furthermore, using polymerase chain reaction under highly sensitive conditions, neither HTLV-I DNA nor HTLV-II DNA could be noted in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients. Our data do not support a causal association of HTLV-I or HTLV-II with multiple sclerosis.

Adult DNA, Viral/ANALYSIS Female Human HTLV-I/GENETICS HTLV-I Antibodies/ANALYSIS HTLV-I Infections/*COMPLICATIONS HTLV-II/GENETICS HTLV-II Antibodies/ANALYSIS HTLV-II Infections/*COMPLICATIONS Male Middle Age Multiple Sclerosis/*COMPLICATIONS/IMMUNOLOGY Polymerase Chain Reaction Support, Non-U.S. Gov't JOURNAL ARTICLE

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