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Detection of Measles Virus in Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis Brain Tissue

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Diagnosis of Human Viruses by Polymerase Chain Reaction Technology

Part of the book series: Frontiers of Virology ((FRVIROLOGY,volume 1))

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Summary

Subacute selerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a progressive human neurologic disorder caused by reactivation of latent measles virus in the central nervous system (CNS). Prevalence of the disorder is linked to the age, sex, race and measles vaccination status of affected individuals. Onset is gradual, with subtle clinical symptoms initially and diffuse neurologic signs later. Death ensues within months to years. Pathologically, the brain shows widespread but patchy inflammation, necrosis and gliosis with inclusion bodies in the gray and white matter. Diagnosis of SSPE is made through measurement of elevated titers of anti-measles antibodies in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Adaptation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to RNA genomic systems by the application of reverse transcriptase as a preliminary step (RT/PCR) provides a novel method of detecting measles genome in SSPE tissue with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Using primer pairs designed to amplify segments of all 5 major structural protein genes of measles virus, RT/PCR was used to amplify these genes in RNA extracted from frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded SSPE brain tissue but not in RNA from control brain tissue. The sensitivity of this technique is enhanced by using internal (nesting) primers and a second round of amplification. The products generated by RT/ PCR may be sequenced directly after minimal processing to increase the information obtained using this method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Rm. 5B21, Bldg. 36, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Mark S. Godec

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  1. Mark S. Godec
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Virology Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 1172, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yechiel Becker

  2. Institut für Medizinische Virologie, der Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, W-6900, Heidelberg, Germany

    Gholamreza Darai

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© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Godec, M.S. (1992). Detection of Measles Virus in Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis Brain Tissue. In: Becker, Y., Darai, G. (eds) Diagnosis of Human Viruses by Polymerase Chain Reaction Technology. Frontiers of Virology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84766-0_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84766-0_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-84768-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-84766-0

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