Epstein-Barr virus DNA is not detectable by polymerase chain reaction in the synovial fluid of the vast majority of rheumatoid arthritis patients residing in Kuwait

Highly sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction was used for detecting Epstein-Barr virus [EBV] DNA in the Synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis [RA] and other arthropathies. Two out of 26 samples of the total DNA extracted from the Synovial fluid of 22 RA patients were found positive. All 30 DNA samples prepared identically from the Synovial fluid of the patients with arthropathies other than RA were negative. The difference in the prevalence of EBV DNA positivity between these two groups was statistically not significant. The results obtained did not support the hypothesis of the etiologic association between EBV and RA

new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases there a link with bovine spongiform encephalopathy?

A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease [V-CJD] has been recently described. V-CJD is charaderized by early onset, atypical clinical presentation and the presence of multiple plaques that consist of prion protein in the affected regions of the brain. A link between V-CJD and bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE] has been suspected. The currently available data, analyzed in this review, suggest hat the likelihood of BSE transmission to humans is very low. However, such a possibility cannot be excluded unequivocally and additional studies are required