[Results of a serological examination of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients].

Examinations of specimens from 12 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by means of enzyme-labeled immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and solid-phase radioimmunoassay ( SPIRA ) demonstrated antibody to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCM) in the blood sera of 3 patients and antigens of LCM virus in sera of 2 other patients. LCM virus antigen was also found in organs of a patient who died of ALS. LCM virus was isolated from the serum of one patient positive for LCM antigen by inoculation of newborn white mice. The new isolate (the Kanta -220 strain) examined by electron microscope was shown to have some morphological differences from the museum strain CA-1371 of LCM virus available in the laboratory.