Lindsey J W, Hatfield L M, Crawford M P, Patel S
Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Mult Scler. 2009 Feb;15(2):153-8. doi: 10.1177/1352458508097920. Epub 2008 Oct 9.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with MS, but it is not clear whether EBV plays a role in the pathogenesis of MS.
We hypothesized that the immune control of EBV might be defective in MS, and that reactivation of EBV might drive the immune response in MS.
We collected blood from controls and patients with MS, and measured the amounts of EBV DNA and RNA using quantitative PCR.
We found that EBV DNA and RNA were frequently detectable in peripheral blood leukocytes from both patients with MS and normal controls. There was no significant difference between patients with MS or controls. Paired samples from a small number of subjects suggest that EBV DNA may increase before and during clinical relapse.
We conclude that the immune control of EBV infection is similar in MS and controls, and that reactivation of EBV may correlate with MS disease activity.
爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）与多发性硬化症（MS）有关，但尚不清楚EBV是否在MS的发病机制中起作用。
我们推测MS患者对EBV的免疫控制可能存在缺陷，且EBV的重新激活可能会驱动MS中的免疫反应。
我们收集了对照组和MS患者的血液，并使用定量PCR测量EBV DNA和RNA的量。
我们发现MS患者和正常对照组的外周血白细胞中均经常可检测到EBV DNA和RNA。MS患者与对照组之间无显著差异。少数受试者的配对样本表明，EBV DNA可能在临床复发之前和期间增加。
我们得出结论，MS患者和对照组对EBV感染的免疫控制相似，且EBV的重新激活可能与MS疾病活动相关。
