Serum antibodies from epileptic patients react, at high prevalence, with simian virus 40 mimotopes

Background and purpose: It has been demonstrated that inflammation may contribute to epileptogenesis, and cause neuronal injury in epilepsy. In this study, the prevalence of antibodies to Simian virus 40, a kidney- and neurotropic polyomavirus, was investigated in serum samples from 88 epileptic children/adolescents/young adults. Methods: Serum antibodies reacting to specific SV40 peptides were analysed by indirect ELISA. Synthetic peptides corresponding to the epitopes of viral capsid proteins 1-3 were used as SV40 antigens. Results: A significantly higher prevalence of antibodies against SV40 was detected in sera from epileptic patients when compared to controls (41% vs. 19%). Specifically, the highest significant difference was revealed in the cohort of patients from 1.1-10 years old (54% vs. 21%), with a peak in the sub-cohort of 3.1-6 years old (65% vs. 18%). Conclusion: Our immunologic data suggest a strong association between epilepsy and the SV40 infection.