[A case of multiple sclerosis with high CSF antibody titer to HTLV-I]

A case of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a 39 year old Japanese female with high antibody titer to human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was reported. At the age of 15, gait and urinary disturbances accompanied by sensory impairment in the lower abdomen and lower extremities developed suddenly. The motor disturbance slowly progressed to tetraparesis over a period of 15 years with several remissions. At the age of 28 the patient suffered from an acute loss of visual acuity, unilateral initially, and became blind by the age of 34. On admission to our department in September, 1987, the patient was alert and had spastic paraparesis, the impairment of all sensory modalities below the level of Th 10 and urinary disturbance. Weakness of facial muscles, nystagmus, deviation of the tongue and dysarthria were also noted. By the PA method, the antibody titer to HTLV-I was measured x512 in the serum and x64 in the CSF. Western blotting analysis of the CSF disclosed the bands to p19, p24 and p28 of HTLV-I gag proteins. The CSF contained a few ATL-like atypical cells and showed mild lymphocytosis, but the total protein was not increased. The computed tomography revealed diffuse low density areas in the cerebral white matter. The magnetic resonance imaging disclosed high intensity signal areas in the cerebral white matter and in the dorsolateral portion of the medulla oblongata on the T2 weighted image. The link of HTLV-I infection to the pathogenesis of human demyelinating diseases was discussed.