MS reversed by transplanted immune cells that fight Epstein-Barr virus

In a small trial, immune cells that fight the Epstein-Barr virus have stopped the progression of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune condition that can lead to symptoms, such as difficulty walking, that worsen over time.

Transplants of immune cells that target the Epstein-Barr virus have shown promise for treating multiple sclerosis in an early stage trial. Brain scans suggest the progression of the condition was reversed in some participants, but this needs to be confirmed by larger trials.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by someone’s own immune system attacking the myelin coating that helps nerve cells conduct signals, causing a range of symptoms from fatigue to difficulty walking. In most cases, …


Paywalled: https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-that-fight-epstein-barr-virus/#ixzz7QFml5Fog

 

Looks like it might be this...

https://www.technologynetworks.com/...barr-virus-to-treat-multiple-sclerosis-358754

 

Well, this could be bad news for the "business of rehabilitation" that insists it doesn't matter whether you know which virus caused the disease.

What if this deprives MS patients from groundbreaking therapies such as yoga and crayons and stuff?!

 

I came here to post this! Fascinating stuff (with my surface level of understanding!) Also makes me think that there's bound to be an EBV vaccine soon and what a huge impact that could have.

 

Thanks for this @Adam pwme

At first look, this is very interesting for pwME.

EBV plays at least a part in causing some ME. It did for me. Some pwME have repeated acute flares of EBV. Or, it remains active for a considerable length of time.

We know pwME share a number of symptoms similar to MS. Medical personnel have re-diagnosed some initially thought to have ME with MS.

It might be worthwhile for someone to approach this company to discuss the potential of looking at ME.

It's also interesting Stanford is involved in EBV research. I would think the OMF is aware of this research.

 

The article being paywalled, anyone know whether that trial was a lucky stroke that coincided with, or it it happened because of news of EBV being the likely cause of MS?

Because that would be lightning speed, as in weeks. Serious trials of Long Covid drugs haven't even begun 2 years in, medicine is still desperately holding on in a wait-and-see pattern. What a difference will can make, literally all the difference.

 

I not yet been able to access anything that says they have concrete results with this. What I can see is that they have done an open phase 1 study. There may be more data I cannot access.

We know that MS responds well to B cell depletion - using rituximab or newer agents. ME doesn't respond. If this drug works it narrows the target down to EBV infected B cells but rituximab kills those too so hard to argue it is likely to do much for ME I think.

As far as I am aware ME does not share any specific clinical or pathological features with MS so I do not see support there. People with MS may often get diagnosed with ME simply because they have vague symptoms without clear signs. People with all sorts of diseases get diagnosed as having ME on those grounds.

 

MS has fatigue, but it does not have anything like the PEM we get. If EBV does have an involvement with ME for some people this sort of thing might help but not because of any similarity with MS.

 

My understanding is that there are different strains of EBV. Some present differences in the genetic sequence of the two main strains of the cancer-associated EBV can alter the way the virus behaves when it infects white blood cells.

There are different strains of h. pylori (some gastric cancer causing and some not) and HPV strains that can develop into cervical cancer while others don't.

Could this be applicable to the differences in developing M.E or MS?

 

Different strains and species (I guess species is not a thing with viruses?) pose a real conundrum in many parts of medicine. Not just in terms of symptoms and severity, but in terms of diagnostics.

It's a quagmire in some parts.

 

Who knows if anything will come of this particular treatment, it seems to be early stages as Jonathan says. But it seems like there is beginning to be more interest in the long term effects of EBV (and other viruses) and as so many people get ME after EBV, this can only be a good thing I think.

I feel a bit hopeful at the moment that information from genetic studies (Decode or subsequent trials) plus information from research into EBV and perhaps long-covid research might at some point in my life time converge leading to breakthroughs in understanding of ME. (This is a long term projection and I am not particularly science literate but it feels like it might be possible!)

 

MS and EBV covered in an article on the BBC today:
Is a virus we all have causing multiple sclerosis?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61042598

I found this bit interesting:

"There are several companies already working on an EBV vaccine, including Moderna, which is using the same technology it used to rapidly develop a Covid vaccine. However, vaccines will need to ensure they don't trigger the immune system to make the same rogue antibodies that have been implicated in multiple sclerosis.

Finding out if a vaccine can prevent multiple sclerosis is going to take decades of work. The earlier ambition is a "therapeutic vaccine" for people who already have MS.

Prof Giovannoni said this would be similar to the shingles vaccine, which is given to people who have already been infected with the chickenpox virus so "even though you've got the virus already, you are boosting the immune system to mount an immune response against the virus and controlling the virus itself."

Therapies that target B cells that have been infected with EBV - and drugs that attack the virus itself - are also being investigated. Prof Giovannoni said some studies suggested HIV drugs reduced the risk of getting MS so "there's a little hint" that HIV antiretroviral drugs may work in MS.

But there are still massive uncertainties. Once you get EBV, you are stuck with it in your body for life - as it takes up residence in those antibody-making B cells. So is it the initial infection that sets the immune system down the wrong path? Or is it the continual presence of the virus agitating the immune system that leads to MS? Researchers have made huge strides in understanding the causes of multiple sclerosis, but harnessing that knowledge to make a difference to people's lives is a whole new challenge."