Title: Human demyelinating disease and the polyomavirus JCV
Abstract: Many human neurological diseases involve demyelination of the central and/or peripheral nervous systems. These include the hereditary leukodystrophies -which have a genetic basis; multiple sclerosis (MS) -where the underlying cause of demyelination remains unknown; and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) -where the etiology is well-established as being viral. The human neurotropic polyomavirus -JC virus (JCV) -is the etiologic agent of PML, a fatal demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that occurs mainly in immunosuppressed patients, especially those with HIV/AIDS. JCV belongs to the polyomavirus family of tumor viruses that are characterized by non-enveloped icosahedral capsids containing small, circular, double-stranded DNA genomes. Serological studies have shown that JCV is widespread throughout the human population, but infections are usually restricted by the immune system, particularly cell-mediated immunity, causing the virus to enter a latent phase. An important corollary of this is that situations of severe immunosuppression may permit JCV to replicate and are thus a risk factor for PML.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-04-01
Language: en
Type: review
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 42
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