Science / Medicine : Link Found in MS, AIDS Virus

A research team from the United States and Sweden has reported the discovery of a link between multiple sclerosis and a virus related to the microorganism that causes AIDS.

The researchers said they clearly demonstrated the presence of the virus, known as HTLV-1, in the blood cells of multiple sclerosis patients. But they cautioned it could not yet be determined whether the virus was a cause of the degenerative brain disease.

The study, by a team of scientists from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and by M. Sandberg-Wolheim of the Department of Neurology of the University of Lund, Sweden, is published in current issue of Science magazine.

Although the virus may be only one factor influencing the development of multiple sclerosis, it may lead doctors to more effective treatments for the disease, researchers said, speculating that drugs that attack the virus or strengthen the body’s immune system might benefit multiple sclerosis patients.