OBJECTIVES John Cunningham virus (JCV) is a polyoma virus that infects humans, mainly in childhood or adolescence, and presents no symptomatic manifestations. JCV can cause progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in immunosuppressed individuals, including those undergoing treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). PML is a severe and potentially fatal disease of the brain. The prevalence of JCV antibodies in human serum has been reported to be between 50.0 and 90.0%. The aim of the present study was to review worldwide data on populations of patients with MS and NMO in order to establish the rates of JCV seropositivity in these individuals.
METHODS
The present review followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and used the following search terms: “JCV” OR “JC virus” AND “multiple sclerosis” OR “MS” OR “NMO” OR “neuromyelitis optica” AND “prevalence.” These terms were searched for both in smaller and in larger clusters of words. The databases searched included PubMed, MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS, Google Scholar, and Embase.
RESULTS
After the initial selection, 18 papers were included in the review. These articles reported the prevalence of JCV antibodies in the serum of patients with MS or NMO living in 26 countries. The systematic review identified data on 29,319 patients with MS/NMO and found that 57.1% of them (16,730 individuals) were seropositive for the anti-JCV antibody (range, 40.0 to 69.0%).
CONCLUSIONS
The median worldwide prevalence of JCV among adults with MS or NMO was found to be 57.1%.
Summary
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Potential adverse events associated with sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators in patients with multiple sclerosis: an analysis of the FDA adverse event reporting system (FAERS) database Xiping Yang, Yan Yan, Suyao Liu, Zhiqing Wang, Xia Feng Frontiers in Pharmacology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
B-cell Depletion Therapy in Pediatric Neuroinflammatory Disease Helen C Wu, Grace Y Gombolay, Jennifer H Yang, Jennifer S Graves, Alison Christy, Xinran M Xiang Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.2024; 24(10): 479. CrossRef
Analysis of Immunological Memory for John Cunningham Virus in a Mexican Population of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Under Treatment Silvia García, Adriana García-Martell, Sandra Quiñones-Aguilar, Sergio Sauri-Suárez, Mario Antonio Téllez González, Guillermo García-Castillo, Juan Antonio Suárez-Cuenca, Christian Gabriel Toledo-Lozano, Paul Mondragón Terán, Sofia Lizeth Alcaraz-Estrada Biomedicines.2024; 12(12): 2737. CrossRef
Revisiting JC virus and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy Angela Rocchi, Ilker K. Sariyer, Joseph R. Berger Journal of NeuroVirology.2023; 29(5): 524. CrossRef
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in the context of newer therapies in hematology and review of new treatment strategies Panagiotis T. Diamantopoulos, Konstantinos Kalopisis, Aikaterini Tsatsou, Athina Efthymiou, Nefeli Giannakopoulou, Sevastianos Hatzidavid, Nora‐Athina Viniou European Journal of Haematology.2022; 108(5): 359. CrossRef
B cells going viral in theCNS: Dynamics, complexities, and functions of B cells responding to viral encephalitis Amber Cardani‐Boulton, Brendan T. Boylan, Volodymyr Stetsenko, Cornelia C. Bergmann Immunological Reviews.2022; 311(1): 75. CrossRef
Longitudinal stability of JCV antibody index in Natalizumab treated people with multiple sclerosis M. Gaughan, M. Gilligan, I. Patterson, I. McGurgan, S.M. Yap, N. Tubridy, C. McGuigan Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.2022; 68: 104251. CrossRef
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy genetic risk variants for pharmacovigilance of immunosuppressant therapies Eli Hatchwell, Edward B. Smith, Shapour Jalilzadeh, Christopher D. Bruno, Yassine Taoufik, Houria Hendel-Chavez, Roland Liblau, David Brassat, Guillaume Martin-Blondel, Heinz Wiendl, Nicholas Schwab, Irene Cortese, Maria Chiara Monaco, Luisa Imberti, Rugg Frontiers in Neurology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Complications neurologiques de l’infection par le virus JC : revue générale A. Moulignier, A. Lecler La Revue de Médecine Interne.2021; 42(3): 177. CrossRef
The effect of tonsillectomy on John Cunningham virus serological status in multiple sclerosis patients: A retrospective case–control study Mirla Avila, Annette Okai, Smathorn Thakolwiboon, Collin O’Bryan, Murali Mohan Reddy Gopireddy, Sasikanth Gorantla Multiple Sclerosis Journal.2021; 27(8): 1297. CrossRef
AGA Technical Review on the Medical Management of Moderate to Severe Luminal and Perianal Fistulizing Crohn’s Disease Siddharth Singh, Deborah Proctor, Frank I. Scott, Yngve Falck-Ytter, Joseph D. Feuerstein Gastroenterology.2021; 160(7): 2512. CrossRef
Disease-modifying therapies and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis Shitiz Sriwastava, Saurabh Kataria, Samiksha Srivastava, Shaghayegh Kazemlou, Si Gao, Sijin Wen, Hamidreza Saber, Richa Tripathi, Zubeda Sheikh, Sarah Peterson, Ronald Gwinn, Evanthia Bernitsas Journal of Neuroimmunology.2021; 360: 577721. CrossRef
Common Inflammatory Mechanisms in COVID-19 and Parkinson’s Diseases: The Role of Microbiome, Pharmabiotics and Postbiotics in Their Prevention Valery Danilenko, Andrey Devyatkin, Mariya Marsova, Madina Shibilova, Rustem Ilyasov, Vladimir Shmyrev Journal of Inflammation Research.2021; Volume 14: 6349. CrossRef
Infections in patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis: A multi-database study R. Persson, S. Lee, M. Ulcickas Yood, CAPT M. Wagner, USN, MC, N. Minton, S. Niemcryk, A. Lindholm, A.M. Evans, S.S. Jick Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.2020; 41: 101982. CrossRef
Changes in Anti-JCV Antibody Status in a Large Population of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with Natalizumab Eleonora Sgarlata, Clara Grazia Chisari, Emanuele D’Amico, Enrico Millefiorini, Francesco Patti CNS Drugs.2020; 34(5): 535. CrossRef
Two susceptible HLA-DRB1 alleles for multiple sclerosis differentially regulate anti-JC virus antibody serostatus along with fingolimod Mitsuru Watanabe, Yuri Nakamura, Noriko Isobe, Masami Tanaka, Ayako Sakoda, Fumie Hayashi, Yuji Kawano, Ryo Yamasaki, Takuya Matsushita, Jun-ichi Kira Journal of Neuroinflammation.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
John Cunningham Virus Status, Seroconversion Rate, and the Risk of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in Polish John Cunningham Virus-Seronegative Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Katarzyna Kapica-Topczewska, Francois Collin, Joanna Tarasiuk, Agata Czarnowska, Monika Chorąży, Anna Mirończuk, Jan Kochanowicz, Alina Kułakowska European Neurology.2020; 83(5): 487. CrossRef
The spectrum of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: a practical approach T. Bartsch, T. Rempe, F. Leypoldt, C. Riedel, O. Jansen, D. Berg, G. Deuschl European Journal of Neurology.2019; 26(4): 566. CrossRef
Prevalence of Anti-JC Virus (JCV) Antibodies in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Population in Cyprus: A Retrospective Study Sakis Lambrianides, Christiana A. Demetriou, Andis Tillyris, Elena Kkolou, Eftychia Gaglia, Eleni Agkastinioti, Eleni Leonidou, Yiolanda-Panayiota Christou, Savvas S. Papacostas, Kleopas A. Kleopa, Theodoros Kyriakides, Marios Pantzaris Neurology Research International.2019; 2019: 1. CrossRef
High Seroprevalence and Index of Anti-John-Cunningham Virus Antibodies in Korean Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Su-Hyun Kim, Yeseul Kim, Ji Yun Jung, Na-Young Park, Hyunmin Jang, Jae-Won Hyun, Ho Jin Kim Journal of Clinical Neurology.2019; 15(4): 454. CrossRef
Three cases of non-carryover fingolimod-PML Jin Nakahara, Laura Tomaske, Kodai Kume, Tadayuki Takata, Masaki Kamada, Kazushi Deguchi, Kenji Kufukihara, Ruth Schneider, Ralf Gold, Ilya Ayzenberg Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Serum anti-JCV antibody indexes in Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis: elevations along with fingolimod treatment duration Shinji Aoyama, Masahiro Mori, Akiyuki Uzawa, Tomohiko Uchida, Hiroki Masuda, Ryohei Ohtani, Satoshi Kuwabara Journal of Neurology.2018; 265(5): 1145. CrossRef