Multiple risk factors, antibodies against EBV and myelin lead to high MS risk
by Marisa Wexler, MS | December 15, 2023
Natural killer (NK) cells, a type of immune cell, are critical for preventing an immune response against an infecting virus from triggering multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows.
“Our study demonstrates that the main protective factors against MS are distinct cytotoxic [cell-killing] NK cell responses,” the researchers wrote in “Ineffective control of Epstein-Barr-virus-induced autoimmunity increases the risk for multiple sclerosis,” which was published in Cell. The findings were also discussed this year at the joint ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS meeting.
“These immune responses could therefore play a decisive role in the development of future vaccines” aiming to treat or prevent MS,” Hannes Vietzen, PhD, the study’s first author at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, said in a university press release.
In MS, the immune system launches an attack that targets healthy parts of the brain and spinal cord, damaging the myelin sheath, a fatty covering around nerve fibers that helps them send electrical signals. This neurological damage ultimately gives rise to MS symptoms.
Previous research has shown the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which causes infectious mononucleosis (mono) and nonspecific childhood illnesses, is a major risk factor of MS. Studies have suggested EBV can set the stage for MS because certain EBV proteins have a similar shape to parts of the myelin sheath. When immune cells make antibodies to fight off the virus, they can accidentally begin attacking healthy myelin, which could lead to the neuroautoimmune disease.
Nearly everyone is infected with EBV at some point, but only some people develop MS. Plus, antibodies that target both EBV and healthy myelin can be detected in healthy people. So other factors must control whether an immune attack against EBV will spiral out of control to cause MS.
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