Complete Epstein-Barr virus seropositivity in a large cohort of patients with early multiple sclerosis
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a large cohort of patients with early multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Serum samples were collected from 901 patients with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or early relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) participating in the German National MS cohort, a prospective cohort of patients with early MS with stringent inclusion criteria. Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA)-1 and viral capsid antigen (VCA) antibodies were measured in diluted sera by chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIAs). Sera of EBNA-1 and VCA antibody-negative patients were retested undiluted by an EBV IgG immunoblot. For comparison, we retrospectively analysed the EBV seroprevalence across different age cohorts, ranging from 0 to >80 years, in a large hospital population (N=16 163) from Berlin/Northern Germany. Results: EBNA-1 antibodies were detected by CLIA in 839 of 901 patients with CIS/RRMS. Of the 62 patients without EBNA-1 antibodies, 45 had antibodies to VCA as detected by CLIA. In all of the remaining 17 patients, antibodies to EBV were detected by immunoblot. Altogether, 901 of 901 (100%) patients with CIS/RRMS were EBV-seropositive. EBV seropositivity increased with age in the hospital population but did not reach 100% in any of the investigated age cohorts. Conclusion: The complete EBV seropositivity in this large cohort of patients with early MS strengthens the evidence for a role of EBV in MS. It also suggests that a negative EBV serology in patients with suspected inflammatory central nervous system disease should alert clinicians to consider diagnoses other than MS.
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The determined prevalence of EBV infection in control children aged 4-15 years was comparable to rates previously observed for children within this age group in Berlin/Germany.
“the determined prevalence of EBV infection in our cohort of control children aged 4–15 years was comparable to rates previously observed for children within this age group in Berlin/Germany54”
From Peroxisomal very long-chain fatty acid transport is targeted by herpesviruses and the antiviral host response (2022) · cites this paper as [54]
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- Authors
- Abrahamyan, S., Eberspächer, B., Hoshi, M.-M., Aly, L., Luessi, F., Groppa, S., Klotz, L., Meuth, S. G., Schroeder, C., Grüter, T., Tackenberg, B., Paul, F., Then-Bergh, F., Kümpfel, T., Weber, F., Stangel, M., Bayas, A., Wildemann, B., Heesen, C., Zettl, U., Warnke, C., Antony, G., Hessler, N., Wiendl, H., Bittner, S., Hemmer, B., Gold, R., Salmen, A., & Ruprecht, K.
- Affiliations
- Yerevan State University (AM)
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- TUM Klinikum (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- University of Münster (DE)
- St. Josef-Hospital (DE)
- Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
- Institut für Klinische Neuroimmunologie (DE)
- Sana Kliniken AG (DE)
- Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (DE)
- University Hospital Augsburg (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- University of Rostock (DE)
- University of Cologne (DE)
- University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (DE)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Ruprecht, Klemens
- ORCID
- Hoshi, Muna-Miriam
- Aly, Lilian
- Luessi, Felix
- Groppa, Sergiu
- Klotz, Luisa
- Meuth, Sven G
- Grüter, Thomas
- Tackenberg, Björn
- Paul, Friedemann
- Kümpfel, Tania
- Weber, Frank
- Stangel, Martin
- Bayas, Antonios
- Wildemann, Brigitte
- Heesen, Christoph
- Zettl, Uwe
- Warnke, Clemens
- Antony, Gisela
- Hessler, Nicole
- Wiendl, Heinz
- Bittner, Stefan
- Hemmer, Bernhard
- Gold, Ralf
- Salmen, Anke
- Ruprecht, Klemens
- Venue
- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2020-05-05
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 681-686
- ISSN
- 0022-3050 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-330X
- PMC
- PMC7361012
- OpenAlex
- W3021074805
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 11.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
- MDC Repository (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- BORIS (University Library Bern) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Open access LMU (Ludwid Maxmilian's Universitat Munchen) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- mediaTUM (Technical University of Munich) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- OPUS (Augsburg University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Open Access CRIS of the University of Bern
- Funders
- Charité Research Fund
- German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (01GI0914, 01GI0916, 01GI1601G, 01GI1601B)
- Stiftung Charité (BIH Clinical Fellow Program)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Viral-associated cancers and disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research
- Keywords
- Epstein-Barr virus, multiple sclerosis, seroprevalence, viral capsid antigen antibodies, clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, age-related seropositivity
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Antibodies, Viral, Herpesvirus 4, Human, Female, Germany, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis, Registries, Retrospective Studies, Seroepidemiologic Studies
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