Markers of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 1262
• Main Authors: Debuysschere, Cyril, Nekoua, Magloire Pandoua, Hober, Didier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11-05-2023; MDPI
• Series: Microorganisms
• Subjects: Antibodies; Autoimmune diseases; autoimmunity; Beta cells; Central nervous system; Chronic conditions; Development and progression; Diabetes mellitus (insulin dependent); Disease; DNA viruses; Epstein-Barr virus; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Health aspects; Immune system; infection; Infections; Latency; Life Sciences; Lymphocytes T; Lymphoma; Magnetic resonance imaging; Microbiology and Parasitology; MicroRNAs; Mononucleosis; Multiple sclerosis; Pathogenesis; Proteins; Remission (Medicine); Review; Rheumatoid arthritis; Sjogren's syndrome; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Virology; Viruses; Young adults; France; infection; Epstein-Barr virus; autoimmunity; multiple sclerosis
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11051262

Viral infections have been suspected of being involved in the pathogenesis of certain autoimmune diseases for many years. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a DNA virus belonging to the
family, is thought to be associated with the onset and/or the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome and type 1 diabetes. The lifecycle of EBV consists of lytic cycles and latency programmes (0, I, II and III) occurring in infected B-cells. During this lifecycle, viral proteins and miRNAs are produced. This review provides an overview of the detection of EBV infection, focusing on markers of latency and lytic phases in MS. In MS patients, the presence of latency proteins and antibodies has been associated with lesions and dysfunctions of the central nervous system (CNS). In addition, miRNAs, expressed during lytic and latency phases, may be detected in the CNS of MS patients. Lytic reactivations of EBV can occur in the CNS of patients as well, with the presence of lytic proteins and T-cells reacting to this protein in the CNS of MS patients. In conclusion, markers of EBV infection can be found in MS patients, which argues in favour of a relationship between EBV and MS.