Broad screening for human herpesviridae DNA in multiple sclerosis cerebrospinal fluid and serum

Members of the human herpesviridae family are candidates for representing the macroenvironmental factors associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. Real-time PCR was used to search for DNA of herpes simplex virus type-1/-2, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpesvirus 6 type A/B in paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples from 54 patients with MS, 34 of whom with active disease, 10 patients with other non-infectious neurological diseases, and 15 healthy individuals. All the CSF and serum samples were negative for the examined herpesviruses DNA, except one CSF sample from an MS patient, which was positive for EBV DNA. These findings do not support a role for the here-studied herpesviruses replication, whether in systemic or in the intrathecal compartment, as co-pathogenetic factors, nor as inducers of relapses, in MS.