JC Virus Load in Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy: Analysis of the Correlation between the Viral Burden in Cerebrospinal Fluid, Patient Survival, and the Volume of Neurological Lesions

作者：Darı́o Garcı́a de Viedma, Marisol Diaz Infantes, Pilar Miralles, Juan Berenguer, Mercedes Marı́n, Lucía Muñoz-Narbona, Emilio Bouza · 发表于：Clinical Infectious Diseases · 年份：2002 · DOI：10.1086/340535 · 被引用次数：69 · 研究领域：Polyomavirus and related diseases、Plant Virus Research Studies、Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research

JC virus (JCV) is the causative agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a demyelinating central nervous system infection that mainly affects patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The diagnostic value of the detection of JCV DNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been proved. A correlation between the JCV burden in CSF and the PML prognosis has been proposed. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to examine JCV burden in CSF in relation to the magnitude of neurological damage. An in-house quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was used for measurement of the JCV burden in CSF samples from 12 patients with PML. A wide variation in JCV load (6.4 log) was found among the patient CSF samples, a finding that makes JCV load measurements worthwhile. Virus load values of >4.68 log were associated with shorter patient survival time. No correlation was found between the virus load values and the global volume of brain tissue damaged. Our data suggest that factors other than the volume of neurological lesions influence the shedding of JCV in the CSF.