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British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1986 Aug 30;293(6546):523–524. doi: 10.1136/bmj.293.6546.523

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: detection of measles virus RNA in appendix lymphoid tissue before clinical signs.

J G Fournier, P Lebon, M Bouteille, F Goutieres, S Rozenblatt
PMCID: PMC1341304  PMID: 3092900

Abstract

An appendix removed 15 days before onset of symptoms of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis was examined retrospectively for measles virus ribonucleic acid (RNA). Tissue sections hybridised in situ to a cloned measles virus probe of deoxyribonucleic acid specific for nucleocapsid protein showed that many cells of the lymphoid tissue contained measles virus RNA. In contrast, only a few infected lymphoid cells were detected in three out of six seropositive controls and none in three seronegative infants. A widespread chronic viral infection of the immune system, established after measles, may promote or even initiate nerve cell infection in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

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Selected References

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  1. Horta-Barbosa L., Hamilton R., Wittig B., Fuccillo D. A., Sever J. L., Vernon M. L. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: isolation of suppressed measles virus from lymph node biopsies. Science. 1971 Aug 27;173(3999):840–841. doi: 10.1126/science.173.3999.840. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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