MS and Epstein-Barr virus in the news

Multiple sclerosis has been in the news in recent weeks, with several reports looking at the Epstein-Barr virus and how it might relate to MS.

The Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV, is a very common virus that causes glandular fever. Symptoms are often mild, but the virus remains in the body and can become reactivated in later life. For several decades, researchers have noticed a link between EBV infection and a range of autoimmune diseases, including MS. However, nearly everyone eventually catches EBV, and most of those people infected do not develop MS. It is not clear why some people infected with EBV go on to develop other conditions, but genetic susceptibility, lifestyle or environmental factors could be involved.

One recent Harvard study looked at repeat blood samples taken from US armed forces personnel over several years. The researchers were able to show that becoming infected with EBV greatly increased the risk of going on to develop MS within the next few months or years.

If EBV is involved in MS, the next question is whether removing or reducing the EBV infection would affect the course of MS. If so, then this could indicate a new direction for MS treatments, including for progressive types of MS.

Very early clinical trial results have been reported from Atara Biotherapeutics, where 24 volunteers with progressive MS were given a transplant of modified T cells. These are a type of white blood cell that will attack and destroy cells with EBV infection. 20 of the study participants showed signs of either improvement of their symptoms, or a halt in their symptom progression, with no signs of serious side effects in the 12 months of the study. 

Although this sounds very positive, this study has not yet been reviewed or repeated by other scientists. It is a very small study, and the results could have been a result of chance, or the placebo effect. The people in the study knew that they were taking a treatment, and may have reported their symptoms and experience differently as a result.

The name for this treatment is ATA188. It needs to go through much more rigorous testing with much larger groups of people, and for a longer period of time before it is ready to be made available to people with MS. The average time from a Phase I trial like this to a drug becoming available can be several years.

In general, we report on trials that have reached Phase II or beyond, so that there is a reasonable chance that we might see the new drugs becoming available. You can follow the drug development process in our information pages.

With these reservations in mind, it is still reassuring to know that scientific discovery is very active in the field of multiple sclerosis, and that new directions for treatments are still being sought. We will continue to follow these studies and report on them.