Cerebrospinal fluid and serum JC virus antibody detection in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab

Publication Date

August 15, 2013

Publication Information

Lin J, Bettin P, Lee JK, Ho JK, and Sadiq SA. J Neuroimmunology. 2013; 261(1-2): 123–128.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a complication of natalizumab treatment. In order to identify natalizumab-treated patients at risk of developing PML, we assayed for anti-JC virus (JCV) antibody levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Serial CSF antibody levels were obtained, with 4 patients showing increases in anti-JCV levels indicating possibly viral activation. In patients with both CSF and serum antibody levels, a comparison showed only a moderate Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient of 0.38. Our data suggests that serum anti-JCV antibody testing alone may not suffice in identifying at-risk patients because of the lack of uniform correlation with CSF titers.

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