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Researchers are piecing together how a previous infection with the Epstein-Barr virus can catapult the development of MS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The human body has myriad defenses to protect itself from disease and infection, but sometimes those biological bulwarks can become a threat themselves when they attack healthy cells and tissues, often by mistake. This autoimmune mixup can create debilitating chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), which affects nearly two million people worldwide. In MS, the immune system attacks a protective tissue called myelin, insulating the central nervous system. The resulting damage to nerves prevents the back-and-forth of messages across the body...

Investigators for Moderna today halted an early-stage clinical trial for its mRNA Epstein-Barr virus vaccine in adolescents after a participant in the trial developed a suspected case of myocarditis.The case “necessitates an immediate suspension of all dosing for ALL adolescents,” an investigator at the company that is supervising the trial for Moderna wrote, adding, “Please confirm understanding and receipt of this urgent communication.”The trial subjects should continue to be monitored for safety, the investigator wrote. About 150 adolescents are in the trial, along with 272 people aged 18-30.A person not employed by Moderna, which makes the Spikevax Covid vaccine, provided...

A treatment designed to attack a common virus that hides in our bodies could ease the decline caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new trial results. Excitingly, it may even reverse some of the symptoms. A phase 1 clinical trial by the California-based immunotherapy company Atara Biotherapeutics confirms latent Epstein-Barr (EBV) infections are viable targets for treating MS in at least some patients, reinforcing a curious link between the virus and a deadly illness that affects millions around the world. Out of the trial's 24 volunteers, 20 showed signs of either improvement or at least a halt in their...

If you were to ask any of the 1 million Americans living with multiple sclerosis, they’d probably say their disease started with changes so small they almost didn’t notice them: a wobbly step, a weakening grip, sight going soft around the edges. But MRI scans of their brains — dotted with ghostly white scars — would tell a different story. Those scars are signs of inflammation dating back multiple years. Each spot represents a dead zone filled with mangled remains of thousands, sometimes millions, of neurons. Like city blocks going dark during a power outage, these cells blinked out one...

Attorney General William Barr personally questioned the last inmate to share a cell with Jeffrey Epstein before the multimillionaire sex offender died by suicide, a source told the New York Daily News. Epstein was found hanging from cloth tied to a bed frame early on Aug. 10, 2019, rocking the highest levels of the Justice Department. Investigators' attention turned to Efrain 'Stone' Reyes, who had been transferred out of a cell he shared with Epstein the day before the suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. Reyes' niece and other sources previously told the Daily News that Reyes...

[R] researchers found that people with high genetic risk of schizophrenia and who also presented high levels of Epstein-Barr virus antibibodies had an increased probability to pertain to the schizophrenia group — more than eight times higher, to be precise. Also, among participants with schizophrenia, around 10 percent had both high levels of antibodies against this type of herpes virus and a higher genetic risk for schizophrenia, compared with only a little over 1 percent of the participants in the control group. The study did not seek to establish cause and effect relationships, but the researchers suggest that preventing infection...

At present, while there is no cause known for this condition, patients with MS seem to have genetic vulnerability to certain environmental factors that could trigger this condition, such as the Epstein-Barr virus. Scientists at the University of Granada have found a relation between the Epstein-Barr virus –which belongs to the herpesviruses family–and the development of this conditionThe Epstein-Barr (EVB) virus –belonging to the herpesviruses family, which also includes the herpes simplex virus and the cytomegalovirus– is one of the environmental factors that might cause multiple sclerosis, a condition affecting the central nervous system, which causes are unknown. This has...