Introduction/Objectives:
Among of the potential agents causing multiple sclerosis MSRV virus (multiple sclerosis-associated retrovirus) is often taken into consideration. Aims of the study were 1) an assessment of MSRV potential role in MS and 2) test of genome instability in MS patients.
Participants, Materials/Methods:
The material was peripheral blood lymphocytes from 92 patients with MS, 12 patients with myasthenia and 20 healthy persons. The FISH studies with labeled PCR products of pol, gag and env MSRV genes in nuclei, chromosomes and chromatin fibers were done. Classical cytogenetic techniques were introduced into karyotypes and micronuclei analyses. MSRV pol, gag and env sequences were found in both MS patients and controls.
Results:
The copy number of MSRV pol sequences was significantly greater in MS patients (6–24 copies on nucleus) than in myasthenia (4–5 copies) and normal individuals (3–6 copies). MSRV gag sequences was found in a range of 5–20, 4–5 and 2–4 copies in MS patients, patients with myasthenia and healthy donors, respectively. MSRV env was found in a range of 6–22, 4–5 and 2–4 copies in MS patients, patients with myasthenia and healthy donors, respectively. Moreover, the number of spontaneous micronuclei was significantly greater in MS patients compared to control. In patients with MS diversity of chromosome aberrations was observed.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, evident difference in MSRV pol, gag and env copy number between MS patients and control suggests that MSRV may play some role in the etiology of multiple sclerosis (latent viral infection). The presence of chromosome aberrations and high amount of micronuclei in MS patients shows that the instability in MS genome often occurs.