The discovery is important: multiple sclerosis is most likely caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, according to a new study by American researchers, who have for the first time identified a person responsible for this autoimmune disease. This discovery raises the hope of the possible development of a future treatment, which would make it possible to cure this disease affecting approximately 2.8 million people in the world. About 95% of all adults are infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which can also cause other illnesses, such as mononucleosis.
The study, published on January 13 in the prestigious journal Science, shows that this virus is necessary for the development of multiple sclerosis, even if all infected people do not develop this disease. The hypothesis had been studied for several years, but difficult to prove, in particular because this virus is very common – it infects 90% of humanity – and the symptoms of the disease only begin regarding ten years following infection. Another obstacle: the infection cannot be reproduced in an animal model. It’s “the first study to provide compelling evidence of causation,” said Alberto Ascherio, lead author and professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
“This is an important step, as it suggests that most cases of multiple sclerosis might be prevented by stopping Epstein-Barr virus infection,” he added, quoted in a statement. “Targeting this virus might lead to the discovery of a cure.” Researchers led by Alberto Ascherio followed for 20 years more than 10 million young adults engaged in the American army. A total of 955 were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during their service. All but one had serum anti-EBV antibodies when diagnosed. According to this work unveiled in English, the risk of contracting multiple sclerosis was multiplied by 32 following being infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, but remained unchanged following infection with other viruses.
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The American firm Moderna in the ranks
But this virus would not be the only culprit. According to researchers at Stanford University, who published a commentary on the study in the journal Science, other factors, for example genetic, might play a role in the fact of developing or not developing the disease. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It causes a disruption of the immune system, which attacks myelin, the sheath used to protect nerve fibers. Consequently, the information sent to other neurons or to the rest of the body is disturbed in the individual concerned. During this work on these young Americans, “the debris from the sheath of myelin, which is destroyed by B lymphocytes in multiple sclerosis, only appear in the serum following seroconversion to EBV”, reports the specialized media Futura-Sciences.
In France, this disease affects approximately 100,000 people, the majority of whom are women. In total, more than 5,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Evolving by “relapses”, the disease is highly variable from one patient to another, but can lead to sequelae and is one of the frequent causes of disability in young adults. The American company Moderna announced last week that it had started clinical trials on humans of a vaccine once morest the Epstein-Barr virus. This discovery is all the more interesting since this virus has been found in other serious autoimmune diseases as well as in certain cancers.
Other previous results had come close to this hypothesis. In October 2021, an Anglo-Swedish team studied infectious mononucleosis, caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, as a risk factor for multiple sclerosis in siblings, recalls Futura-Sciences. At the time, the conclusion was as follows: having infectious mononucleosis during childhood or adolescence increases the risk of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis from the age of 20. With these new results, the Epstein-Barr virus will find itself in the line of sight of researchers.
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