Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis

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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.

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Contributors

Kjetil Bjornevik: (View ORCID Profile)

Marianna Cortese: (View ORCID Profile)

Brian C. Healy: (View ORCID Profile)

Michael J. Mina: (View ORCID Profile)

Yumei Leng: (View ORCID Profile)

Stephen J. Elledge: (View ORCID Profile)

Kassandra L. Munger: (View ORCID Profile)

Alberto Ascherio: (View ORCID Profile)

Journal

Title: Science

Abbreviated Title: Science

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

ISSN (Print): 0036-8075

ISSN (Electronic): 1095-9203

Publication date (Electronic): January 21 2022

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

[2 ]Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

[3 ]Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

[4 ]Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

[5 ]Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, MS Center and Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

[6 ]Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Genetics, and Program in Virology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

[7 ]Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Department of Epidemiology, and Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

[8 ]Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

[9 ]Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.

[10 ]Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

[11 ]Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Article

DOI: 10.1126/science.abj8222

PubMed ID: 35025605

SO-VID: 30fab171-958b-4324-a89a-e5102eab4d35

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