For years, a common virus has been implicated in the development of multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the body's immune system attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Now, researchers have uncovered how the virus triggers the immune system. They also reveal how an immunotherapy treatment can prevent relapses and slow disease progression1. The results are published today in Science Translational Medicine. The findings are a sign that scientists are starting to get to the bottom of how Epstein'Barr virus drives the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), says Emily Edwards, a rare-diseases researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Epstein'Barr virus is a herpesvirus present in about 90% of the global population. For most people, the infection is relatively harmless and does not lead to MS. But for a subset of the population, it is 'well established' that Epstein'Barr virus is one of the main causes of MS, according to study co-author Natalia Drosu, a...
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