Prevalence of seropositivity of selected herpesviruses in patients with multiple sclerosis in the North of Jordan

Abstract

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that is caused by an autoimmune response that results in the neuron’s demyelination in the central nervous system. The exact etiology of MS is not clear; however, several environmental and genetic factors are believed to participate in its initiation and development, including exposure to viruses. This study aims to investigate the association between the seropositivity and antibody titer of selected herpesviruses and MS in Jordanian MS patients. Method In this study, 55 MS patients and 40 age- and gender-matching apparently healthy volunteers were recruited from two main hospitals in the north of Jordan. MS patients were grouped into three types of MS based on the clinical presentation of the disease. Blood samples were collected from the participants and the IgG antibodies for human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen (EBNA), EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were assayed by ELISA. The prevalence of seropositivity and the antibody level for each of the antibodies were compared between MS patients and controls and between the three types of MS. Results There was no significant difference in the prevalence of seropositivity and in the levels of antibodies for HHV-6, EBNA and VCA between MS patients and controls and between the three types of MS. In contrast, the number of seropositive patients and the level of IgG antibodies for VZV were significantly higher in MS patients compared to the control. Conclusion This study showed that patients with MS in the north of Jordan were more likely to be seropositive for VZV than the general population. Based on this finding, we recommend further studies to evaluate the seropositivity to VZV to be carried out in other parts of Jordan and the greater middle east to find out if there is a correlation between MS and previous infection with VZV.

The Potential Role of Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen-1 (Ebna-1) in Multiple Sclerosis

“…The significantly higher seropositivity of EBNA-1 IgG in the MS patients than in the controls is in accordance with other studies (20,21) , however, other studies, (Banwell et al, 2007), which was carried out on children, failed to manifest any relationship between the virus and MS (22) . The median level of EBNA-1 IgG for MS patients and controls were 81.08 U/ml and 67.73 U/ml respectively, which was significantly higher in MS patients in the current study, as reported by other studies which have showed significantly higher IgG level in MS patients (10,11,23,24) , while others found no significant difference (25,26) . Concerning the association between EBNA-1 IgG results and duration of MS disease, the current study revealed higher serum level and seropositivity of EBNA-1 IgG in MS patients during first two years of disease and this result is in accordance with other study (11) , this is indicative of the role of the viral antigen in the early stages of the disease which could be the triggering factor of MS. And due to this triggering factor, the relationship linking EBNA-1 IgG titers and number of clinical relapses showed no statistically significant association as shown in the table (5), this result is close to what's mentioned by Bakir et al in 2017 (10) .…”

Analysis of herpesvirus infection and genome single nucleotide polymorphism risk factors in multiple sclerosis, Volga federal district, Russia

“…VZV and human HCMV also suggested contributing to MS risk ( 25 ). This suggestion was supported by finding a higher frequency of anti-VZV in MS as compared to controls ( 26 ). Interestingly, some studies report the association between anti-HCMV antibodies and reduced risk of MS ( 27 ).…”

The association between various viral infections and multiple sclerosis: An umbrella review on systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Mutations influence the susceptibility to developing RRMS in the HNRNPA1 gene. Since neurodegeneration is the primary cause of MS, mutations in HNRNPA1 may have a possible role in the degeneration of neurons in MS 80 . Therefore, HNRNPA1 protein retention in the cytoplasm results from mutations in HNRNPA1.…”

“…79 Mutations influence the susceptibility to developing RRMS in the HNRNPA1 gene. Since neurodegeneration is the primary cause of MS, mutations in HNRNPA1 may have a possible role in the degeneration of neurons in MS. 80 Therefore, HNRNPA1 protein retention in the cytoplasm results from mutations in HNRNPA1. HNRNPA1 is widely distributed near the Stress Granules, breaking it into shorter peptides and forming a surface-bound complex with an major histocompatibility complex structure.…”