Is Chlamydia pneumoniae found in spinal fluid samples from multiple sclerosis patients? Conflicting results

Mult Scler. 2002 Aug;8(4):289-94. doi: 10.1191/1352458502ms815oa.

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid samples from controls and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were split and sent to laboratories with different experiences for the detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae by polymerase chain reaction. Vanderbilt investigators identified C. pneumoniae in the majority of patients with MS and uncommonly in controls. Laboratories at Johns Hopkins University, University of Umeå, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not identify C. pneumoniae in any of the samples. Conflicting reports of C. pneumoniae detection in the some samples from patents with MS highlight the need to exchange detection techniques among laboratories involved in this controversy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Chlamydophila Infections / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Chlamydophila Infections / diagnosis*
  • Chlamydophila pneumoniae / genetics
  • Chlamydophila pneumoniae / isolation & purification*
  • DNA, Bacterial / isolation & purification
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multiple Sclerosis / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Multiple Sclerosis / microbiology*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prospective Studies

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial