Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in Patients on Immunomodulatory Therapies* - Annual Review of Medicine, 61(1):35 - Abstract

Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892; email: majorg@ninds.nih.gov

"Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the white matter of the human brain caused by lytic infection of oligodendrocytes with the human polyomavirus JCV. Although the majority of PML cases occur in severely immune-suppressed individuals, with HIV-1 infection as the predominant factor, PML has been increasingly diagnosed in patients treated with biological therapies such as monoclonal antibodies that modulate immune system functions...."