A Suppression of Cellular Immunity in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Many authors have entertained the possibility, mainly on epidemiological grounds, that multiple sclerosis is a consequence of a disease acquired in childhood (1). Among the number of common childhood infectious agents that have been impliacted in this disease, viral agents, in particular the paramyxoviruses, cccupy a prominent place as possible etiological agents. First, a number of studies have demonstrated that both the sera and cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients contain unusually high titers of measles antibody (2-4). Secondly, at least two investigators have reported either isolation of paramyxoviruses or the presence of viral nucleocapsids in the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis (5, 6). Finally, pathological examination of the brains of experimental animals infected with viruses such as canine distemper virus, a virus related to human measles virus, may occasionally cause demyelination of the canine brain tissue (7).