Abstract
In patients suspected of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) high levels of measles antibody in the serum and CSF have been taken as a supporting diagnostic criterion for the disease. In the present study 14 sera from patients with SSPE, 3 early-measles-con-valescent sera and 100 late-measles-convalescent sera were used for indirect immunofluorescent examination of tissue culture cells infected with wild measles virus and SSPE viruses. All 14 SSPE sera reacted with an antigen in the nuclei and cytoplasm of these infected cells, as did the 3 convalescent sera obtained 3 weeks after the onset of measles. However, no intranuclear fluorescence was detected when the 100 sera obtained 5 months or later after measles infection were used. Thus, SSPE sera derived from patients who had measles many months, or years, prior to the onset of their neurological disorder, behaved like early convalescent sera. Thus unusual characteristic can be applied as a diagnostic test for SSPE. (Supported by USPHS grant NS-6859; Grant MS 596-A-2 from the Nat. Multiple Sclerosis Soc.; DG grants Me270/4 and 270/6; and USPHS grant AI-1475.)
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Katz, M., Meulen, V., Leonard, L. et al. Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis: A New Serological Test in the Diagnosis of the Disease. Pediatr Res 4, 482 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00187
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