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Many people have heard of multiple sclerosis (MS), Many people have heard of multiple sclerosis (MS), but what science has yet to figure out is what causes it, and how to really target treatment. In a new study, researchers discovered that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which 90% of the population has but normally lies dormant, may be the cause. Researchers from the lab of Tanuja Chitnis, MD, Chief of Neuroimmunology at Mass General Brigham and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, examined immune cells from MS patients and found that B cells, which can hide dormant EBV, showed the biggest changes, turning on genes linked to inflammation and viral fights. They also saw a spike in a specific type of B cell tied to viral infections and autoimmune diseases. Crucially, EBV proteins switched on key MS risk genes right before a flare-up or relapse, but this trigger was completely absent during remission or in healthy people. “These findings open a whole new avenue for targeted therapeutics,” says Dr. Chitnis. “Currently, most MS treatments work by broadly suppressing the immune system. Our results suggest there’s an opportunity to be more precise and develop approaches that target EBV or the immune cells involved in relapse.”

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