Epstein-Barr Virus Antibodies and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

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Abstract
The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is largely unknown, but evidence supports an autoimmune process triggered by infection or other environmental factors.1-3 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpesvirus, infects more than 90% of the human population, establishing a persistent and highly immunogenic infection of B lymphocytes.4 Antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells are massively expanded in response to primary infection and persist at high levels for several years.5,6 Autoimmunity could result if some of these cells carry T-cell receptors that recognize self-peptides. Epstein-Barr virus has been related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and Hodgkin disease,7 and a relation to autoimmune diseases has been proposed8 but remains unproven.