Evaluation of viral antibodies in Iranian multiple sclerosis patients.

Objective: To evaluate the viral antibodies in new Iranian multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, sera from 61 MS patients and 60 healthy individuals were collected from January 2009 to March 2010 in the Immunology Department of Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran, and examined for the presence of the anti-Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), measles, mumps, and para-influenza viruses IgG and IgM using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or immunofluorescence.

Results: There were significant differences between the MS patients and the healthy individuals (controls) in the seroprevalence of anti-HHV-6 IgM (odds ratio [OR]=4.