{"id":1237,"date":"2023-02-08T08:48:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T13:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=1237"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:48:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T13:48:48","slug":"ebv-and-ms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=1237","title":{"rendered":"<strong>EBV and MS<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The cause of MS (multiple sclerosis) has long been sought.&nbsp; Although many factors are felt to predispose to it, genetics and environment top the lists.&nbsp; For instance, the illness is much more common in Europe and North America than in the rest of the world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viral infections have long been suspects.&nbsp; Now there is mounting evidence that the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) may be the culprit.&nbsp; Two recently published research studies lend credence to this possibility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first study was done on service members on active duty who came down with MS.&nbsp; Over the study period 801 patients developed MS and all but one of them had evidence of active EBV infection.&nbsp; Now, don\u2019t over interpret this finding.&nbsp; Evidence for prior EBV infection (the main cause for Mono, although CMV can also cause Mono) can be found in 90 plus percent of young adults and MS is a comparatively rare disease.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the other recent study done by immunologists at Stanford University found that 25% of the MS patients they studied had a blood antibody that reacted to both EBNA1 protein and GlialCAM (glial cell adhesion molecule) protein.&nbsp;&nbsp; These two proteins are very similar in their chemical structure even though one is a viral protein and the other is a protein found in myelin sheaths.&nbsp; This is a phenomenon called molecular mimicry.&nbsp; Long story short what seems to be happening is the immune systems attempt to irradicate the virus via the anti-EBNA1 antibody ends up attacking the GlialCAM protein in the myelin sheath of nerves.&nbsp; The myelin sheath can be thought of as the plastic or rubber insulation on an electric wire.&nbsp; Damage to the sheath leads to altered nerve conduction and hence the numbness and muscle weakness found in MS.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Stanford scientists extended their research in a mouse model.&nbsp; In one group of mice they injected EBNA-1 protein into their brains and in the control group a non-viral protein of similar size.&nbsp; A handful of the EBNA-1 injected mice developed neurologic disorders whereas none of the control group did.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cause of MS (multiple sclerosis) has long been sought.&nbsp; Although many factors are felt to predispose to it, genetics and environment top the lists.&nbsp; For instance, the illness is much more common in Europe and North America than in the rest of the world.&nbsp; Viral infections have long been suspects.&nbsp; Now there is mounting evidence that the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) may be the culprit.&nbsp; Two recently published research studies lend credence to this possibility.&nbsp; The first study was&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=1237\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[598],"class_list":["post-1237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-multiple-sclerosis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1238,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237\/revisions\/1238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}