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

Kjetil Bjornevik; Marianna Cortese; Brian C. Healy; Jens Kuhle; Michael J. Mina; Yumei Leng; Stephen J. Elledge; David W. Niebuhr; Ann I. Scher; Kassandra L. Munger; Alberto Ascherio

doi:10.1126/science.abj8222

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

Kjetil Bjornevik, Marianna Cortese, Brian C. Healy, Jens Kuhle, Michael J. Mina, Yumei Leng, Stephen J. Elledge, David W. Niebuhr, Ann I. Scher, Kassandra L. Munger, Alberto Ascherio^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1172 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	296-301
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	375
Issue number	6578
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj8222
State	Published - 21 Jan 2022
Externally published	Yes

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title = "Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis",

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.",

author = "Kjetil Bjornevik and Marianna Cortese and Healy, {Brian C.} and Jens Kuhle and Mina, {Michael J.} and Yumei Leng and Elledge, {Stephen J.} and Niebuhr, {David W.} and Scher, {Ann I.} and Munger, {Kassandra L.} and Alberto Ascherio",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1126/science.abj8222",

language = "English",

volume = "375",

pages = "296--301",

journal = "Science",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis

AU - Bjornevik, Kjetil

AU - Cortese, Marianna

AU - Healy, Brian C.

AU - Kuhle, Jens

AU - Mina, Michael J.

AU - Leng, Yumei

AU - Elledge, Stephen J.

AU - Niebuhr, David W.

AU - Scher, Ann I.

AU - Munger, Kassandra L.

AU - Ascherio, Alberto

PY - 2022/1/21

Y1 - 2022/1/21

N2 - 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.

AB - 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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DO - 10.1126/science.abj8222

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VL - 375

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JO - Science

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

Abstract

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