2019/12/17 by Amit Bar‐Or, Michael P. Pender, Rajiv Khanna +7 · 1 citation
Medicine · #Antibody #B cell #Biology #Disease #Epstein–Barr virus #Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments #Immune system #Immunology #Medicine #Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies #Multiple sclerosis #Pathology #Polyomavirus and related diseases #Virology #Virus
paper · doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2019.11.003
openalex publication_date 2019/12/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
New treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) focused on B cells have created an atmosphere of excitement in the MS community. B cells are now known to play a major role in disease, demonstrated by the highly impactful effect of a B cell-depleting antibody on controlling MS. The idea that a virus may play a role in the development of MS has a long history and is supported mostly by studies demonstrating a link between B cell-tropic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and disease onset. Efforts to develop antiviral strategies for treating MS are underway. Although gaps remain in our understanding of the etiology of MS, the role, if any, of viruses in propagating pathogenic immune responses deserves attention.