I came accross these two articles, which are pretty recent and were interesting along the EBV train.
Epstein-Barr Virus Might Kick-start Multiple Sclerosis at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=42767
What we discovered in the peripheral blood of the MS patients were T cells that appeared to be primed for action against EBV
... our hypothesis is that the altered immune response contributes to the development and progression of the disease
Epstein-Barr virus usually persists life-long inside immune system B cells and is kept under control by virus-specific T cells. When B cells divide, the virus produces EBNA1 and uses it to slip its own DNA into the new cell. T cells that target EBNA1 are a crucial component of EBV-specific immune responses in individuals without MS
As expected, the T cells in the healthy volunteers activated only in the presence of a specific group of peptides. But, Edwards said, "EBNA1-specific T cells from the MS patients not only increased in frequency, but also recognized a much broader region of the protein, compared to healthy people who carried the EBV virus." Immunologists call this phenomenon epitope-spreading. "This was an interesting and unexpected finding," said Edwards. "
The next step will be to determine how these over-reactive immune cells trigger the destruction of the myelin ... For some reason, MS patients chronically accumulate these hyper-responsive T cells," she said. "And if these cells are indeed involved, either directly or indirectly, in central nervous system injury and inflammation, interfering with them could prove effective
The other article is a little more general:
Stronger Evidence Found Linking Epstein-Barr Virus And Risk Of Multiple Sclerosis at:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=41490
The researchers selected 42 individuals diagnosed with MS and that had serum specimens collected before the date of diagnosis. Two controls for each case were then selected from the serum database and matched by sex, date of blood collection, and age at time of blood collection.
The study's main finding was that antibodies--proteins produced by the body to fight infection--to the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) complex and its component EBNA-1 in individuals with MS were elevated up to 20 years before the first symptoms of the disease and persisted thereafter.
