Multiple sclerosis and Epstein-Barr virus: is a personalised vaccine possible? Research is a first step towards preventing and treating the disease
The recent demonstration of a causal link between Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and multiple sclerosis has opened up new perspectives not only for treating but also for preventing this disease
Especially as far as prevention is concerned, a vaccine against EBV is the most logical approach.
However, since the virus infects “naturally” - and without any particular consequences - more than 90% of the adult population, “blanket” vaccination may not be easy, not least because of acceptance issues, as the recent pandemic has taught us.
After several years of work, a study coordinated by the Sant'Andrea-Sapienza Multiple Sclerosis Centre published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), points to a possible solution.
The study shows that some variants of the virus “dialogue” with the genes that predispose to multiple sclerosis in a way that makes them more at risk of causing the disease.
‘This result opens the way to the possibility of selective vaccination, limited to those who present the most “at risk” variants of the virus, minimising resistance to vaccination while guaranteeing protection to those who need it most,’ says Marco Salvetti of the Sant'Andrea-Sapienza Multiple Sclerosis Centre.
For Rosella Mechelli, Professor at the San Raffaele Telematic University in Rome, the study's other coordinating centre, ‘the research also shows how the virus is associated with multiple sclerosis in a specific way that is not found in many of the other autoimmune diseases examined’. ‘Going to the roots of the causes of the disease,’ concludes Giuseppe Matarese, Full Professor of Immunology and General Pathology at the University Federico II of Naples, ‘allows us to understand which immunological mechanisms are most relevant, also for the design of future therapies.’
‘These are very important and innovative results, which provide us with a key to explaining why an infection that is widespread in 90-95% of the world's population can favour the onset of MS in only a small portion of individuals,’ says Paola Zaratin, Director of Scientific Research at AISM-FISM. ‘These results will provide useful information on the strategy of developing personalised anti-EBV vaccines. The aetiological research of MS, to which the Associazione Italiana SM together with its Foundation has always been committed, is the only one that can lead to a primary prevention of MS (equivalent of “end MS”)’.
References
R. Mechelli, R. Umeton, G. Bellucci, R. Bigi, V. Rinaldi, D.F. Angelini, G. Guerrera, F.C. Pignalosa, S. Ilari, M. Patrone, S. Srinivasan, G. Cerono, S. Romano, M.C. Buscarinu, S. Martire, S. Malucchi, D. Landi, L. Lorefice, R. Pizzolato Umeton, E. Anastasiadou, P. Trivedi, A. Fornasiero, M. Ferraldeschi, IMSGC WTCCC2, A. Di Sapio, G. Marfia, E. Cocco, D. Centonze, A. Uccelli, D. Di Silvestre, P. Mauri, P. de Candia, S. D’Alfonso, L. Battistini, C. Farina, R. Magliozzi, R. Reynolds, S.E. Baranzini, G. Matarese, M. Salvetti, & G. Ristori, A disease-specific convergence of host and Epstein–Barr virus genetics in multiple sclerosis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (14) e2418783122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418783122 (2025).
Further Information
Marco Salvetti
Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs – NESMOS