The infectious status of patients with optic neuritis of inflammatory and demyelinating etiologies

Abstract

Purpose: to study the prevalence of various chronic infections, the frequency of their reactivation and characteristic associations of microorganisms in patients with optic neuritis of various etiologies.Material and methods. 13 patients with optic neuritis (ON) and 12 patients with ON and multiple sclerosis were tested for a broad range of infectious agents in their blood serum.Results. All patients were shown to have mixed infections; 64 % of them had an association of 4 or more infectious agents. The patients of both groups were infected with Epstein-Barr virus (100 %), Cytomegalovirus (92 %) and Herpex simplex viruses (92 %) types 1 and/or 2 with serological signs of their reactivation. The combination of Herpes virus reactivation, Toxoplasma and urogenital infection was more often detected in patients with demyelinating ON. In patients with multiple sclerosis, a mutual correlation was detected: the higher the degree of infection (combination of 5 or more pathogens), the lower the visual acuity at the onset of the disease (p < 0.05) and the less favourable the vision prognosis.Conclusion. Possibly, mixed infection may play an important role in the pathogenesis of ON, including that of demyelinating etiology, as a trigger or an aggravating factor.