Link Between EBV And MS

More than 95% of the world population is infected with EBV. Mononucleosis, or mono, is only the most common manifestation of a primary infection with this organism. Mono is also called acute infection mononucleosis and tends to be self-limited, afflicting teens and young adults.

Incurable Disease

But mononucleosis isn't the only illness caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. The pathogen also seems to play a big part in the degeneration of the nerves that comes with multiple sclerosis. This is according to researchers from the University of Buffalo and the University of Trieste, in Italy. Multiple sclerosis is an incurable autoimmune disease that often causes severe disability. The study has been published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Robert Zivadinov, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology in the University of Buffalo's Jacobs Neurological Institute (JNI), and lead author of this study tells us that the study is the first of its kind. Zivadinov says the study proves that a viral agent may be responsible for the severity of how a specific case of MS presents and that this can be measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).  "A growing body of experimental evidence indicates that past infection with EBV may play a role in MS, but the relationship of EBV and the brain damage that can be seen on MRI scans had not been explored," says Zivadinov.

The University of Trieste's Multiple Sclerosis Center recruited 135 MS patients. Researchers at both the University of Trieste and at the JNI's Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) evaluated the participants' MRI scans. BNAC is directed by Zivadinov.

Gray Matter

The researchers in Buffalo recorded the total volume of the brain as well as measuring the decrease in the gray matter, both at the onset of the study and three years later. It was demonstrated that those patients with higher levels of anti-EBV antibody at the inception of the study were found to have a greater loss of gray matter and total brain volume at the three-year evaluation.

At present, the research team is studying patients who experienced the condition known as "clinically isolated syndrome," which is the first neurological episode in an MS patient that lasts at least a day and is found to be caused by either inflammation or demylenation in at least one site within the central nervous system. When a second episode occurs, patients are diagnosed with MS. This part of the investigation focuses on the connection between anti-EBV antibody levels with the atrophying of gray matter, neurocognitive functioning, and the progression of disability as time goes on.