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Epstein–Barr virus sparks brain autoimmunity in multiple sclerosis

Understanding factors that lead to the development of multiple sclerosis might aid efforts to develop new therapies. Clinical data now implicate a viral culprit and immune-system dysfunction as underlying factors in this condition.
  1. Hartmut Wekerle

    1. Hartmut Wekerle is at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (formerly known as the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology), Martinsried D-82152, Germany, and at the Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.

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Most people who study multiple sclerosis (MS) propose that the factors underlying initiation of the disease enter the central nervous system (CNS) from outside the brain. The debate about the nature of these factors has split researchers into two main camps. Most see autoimmunity as the driving factor for the illness, but a minority invoke viral culprits. Writing in Nature, Lanz et al.1 report evidence that might settle this debate through a compromise solution.

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Nature 603, 230-232 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00382-2

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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