Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system of unknown etiology. We tested the hypothesis that MS is caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a cohort comprising more than 10 million young adults on active duty in the US military, 955 of whom were diagnosed with MS during their period of service. Risk of MS increased 32-fold after infection with EBV but was not increased after infection with other viruses, including the similarly transmitted cytomegalovirus. Serum levels of neurofilament light chain, a biomarker of neuroaxonal degeneration, increased only after EBV seroconversion. These findings cannot be explained by any known risk factor for MS and suggest EBV as the leading cause of MS.

Keywords

Multiple sclerosisSeroconversionDemyelinating diseaseImmunologyVirusCytomegalovirusEtiologyMedicineEpstein–Barr virusCohortBiomarkerDiseaseHerpesviridaeHuman cytomegalovirusClinically isolated syndromeVirologyViral diseaseBiologyInternal medicine

MeSH Terms

Age of OnsetAntibodiesViralBiomarkersCohort StudiesCytomegalovirusEpstein-Barr Virus InfectionsFemaleHerpesvirus 4HumanHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMilitary PersonnelMultiple SclerosisNeurofilament ProteinsPrevalenceRisk FactorsYoung Adult

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Publication Info

Year
2022
Type
article
Volume
375
Issue
6578
Pages
296-301
Citations
1749
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Kjetil Bjørnevik, Marianna Cortese, Brian C. Healy et al. (2022). Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis. Science , 375 (6578) , 296-301. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj8222

Identifiers

DOI
10.1126/science.abj8222
PMID
35025605

Data Quality

Data completeness: 81%