Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. III: Histocompatibility determinants.

Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. V: The effect on viral titres of histocompatibility determinants.

HLA phenotypes were correlated with serum antibody titres to eight viruses in patients with multiple sclerosis and two matched control groups in the Orkney Islands. In patients, no specific HLA antigen was associated wtih increased or decreased viral titres. However, HLA-B7 was significantly correlated with higher measles titres in healthy controls. Furthermore, controls who had the HLA haploty...

Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. I: Epidemiology, clinical factors, and methodology.

An epidemiological and clinical study of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Orkney and Shetland Islands showed that the prevalence rate of the disease is the highest in the world (309 and 184/100 000, respectively). The clinical entity, MS, is similar to that found in other parts of the world, except that optic neuritis not followed by MS is rare. Analysis of death certificates indicated that MS ha...

Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. II: The search for an exogenous aetiology.

In Orkney and Shetland, a survey of lifetime events was undertaken in multiple sclerosis patients and two control groups to define shared exposure to an exogenous agent or environmental insult. Analyses of demographic factors, diet, social class and occupation, housing and environment, animal exposure, schooling, travel, infectious disease, and medical history disclosed a remarkable similarity ...

Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. VI: The effects of migration and social structure.

Multiple sclerosis in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. IV: Viral antibody titres and viral infections.

A controlled serologic survey of antibody titres to 17 viruses was undertaken in multiple sclerosis patients in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. No consistent pattern of elevated antibody titre levels or the presence of antibody was noted in patients compared with two control groups. Because of the isolation of these islands, the mean age at acquisition of common childhood infections, including...