Trinity scientists develop breakthrough blood test for MS linked to Epstein-Barr virus

The test was developed based on existing diagnostic procedures and may be applied in clinical trials targeting Epstein-Barr virus.

A team of research scientists at Trinity College Dublin has developed a new and unique blood test to measure the immune response to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a major risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS).Their findings will be published in a magazine neurology Neuroimmunology and neuroinflammation This has implications for future basic research to further understand the biology of EBV in MS, as well as potential applications in clinical trials targeting this virus.

MS is a chronic neurological disease with no known cure. It affects approximately 3 million people worldwide and is the second leading cause of disability in young adults. There is an urgent need for better treatments.

Although various viruses associated with MS have been studied in the past, none had as convincing evidence as EBV. The question the research team considered was why some people are known to have an abnormal immune response to EBV, a common viral infection with MS that is generally asymptomatic. .

To answer this, scientists measured the cellular response of MS patients to EBNA-1, a part of EBV that can mimic the myelin coating of nerves, the main attack site of the immune system in MS. The research team found that MS patients had a higher immune response to EBNA-1 compared to epilepsy patients and healthy controls. The researchers also showed that this cellular response is influenced by currently approved MS treatments that target the immune system rather than the virus. The immune response to EBNA-1 was found to be lower in people taking B-cell-depleting drugs compared to MS patients not taking the drugs, and the levels recorded were comparable to healthy controls. did.

B-cell depleting drugs are effective in reducing MS disease activity. However, it is unclear how exactly they work. Many believe that reducing her B cells will reduce her EBV levels because EBV may be latent within her B cells. Although scientists have not proven this theory, they have shown that when using these drugs, the immune response to EBV in MS is comparable to healthy controls. The research team believes this supports the need to reduce EBV more selectively, rather than targeting all B cells. This is important because B cells play a critical role in fighting infection and non-selective approaches can cause unwanted side effects.

Trinity researchers are the first team of scientists to capture immune responses to EBNA-1 using whole blood samples using only equipment routinely used in hospital laboratories. This builds on previous work that involved extensive pretreatment in the laboratory. We believe this is important because it shows that testing can be performed at scale elsewhere without requiring new equipment or personnel.

This study is important because standard blood tests processed in hospital laboratories provide important information about the immune system's response to EBNA-1. This response appears to be central to the pathogenesis of MS. The ability to measure this with a scalable test developed using existing diagnostic tests as a basis has implications for future basic research to further understand the biology of EBV in MS. However, this test could also be used in clinical trials targeting viruses. This means that rather than just measuring outcome measures in MS, it may be possible to directly measure the immune response to potential antiviral treatments.

Dr. Hugh Carney, a neurologist at Trinity College School of Medicine and lead author, said of the study's potential benefits:

“In the short term, the benefits of this study are likely to be for the MS research community. We believe that the approach taken with this test, which uses whole blood samples on a robust hospital-based platform, is similar to other We believe that this will facilitate adoption and replication at the Center. Analyze the results with a view to validation. In the medium term, if validated, it will be beneficial to researchers involved in MS clinical trials. In the long term New treatments tested in clinical trials have the potential to reduce the burden of this potentially disabling disease. This is because of gender.

Our team's next step is to develop a longitudinal study. We recruited people newly diagnosed with MS, measured this blood test before starting treatment, and then repeated the blood test at intervals to find out whether B cell depletion is a sign of the cell response to EBNA-1 in MS. We aim to do this by showing that it directly influences the response. ”