Objectives: To investigate if JC virus (JCV) can be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and astrocytomas.
Study design: A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for the detection of JCV DNA in autopsy brain material (cerebral white matter) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from patients with AD and age-matched control patients without neurological diseases, together with biopsies from patients with astrocytomas (grades 3 and 4). Brain autopsy material from AIDS patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) was examined as positive control material.
Results: JCV DNA was detected by PCR in only one of the 17 brain autopsies from patients with AD, but in none of the 26 control patients without neurological diseases and in none of the 5 astrocytoma biopsies. JCV DNA was, however, detected in the brain material from two patients with PML.
Conclusion: Our results show that JCV infection does not seem to be directly involved in the pathology of AD or in the development of astrocytomas. In addition, since no viral DNA was detected in CSF specimens from 43 patients without PML (17 with AD and 26 elderly controls), our results suggest that the finding of JCV DNA in CSF correlates to PML.