The Correlation between the Virus- and Brain Antigen-Specific B Cell Response in the Blood of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 8; no. 4; p. 105
• Main Authors: Wunsch, Marie, Hohmann, Christopher, Milles, Bianca, Rostermund, Christina, Lehmann, Paul, Schroeter, Michael, Bayas, Antonios, Ulzheimer, Jochen, Mäurer, Mathias, Ergün, Süleyman, Kuerten, Stefanie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 23.04.2016; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Adult; B cells; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; B-Lymphocytes - metabolism; Brain - immunology; Brain - pathology; Brain - virology; Case-Control Studies; CMV; Disease Progression; EBV; ELISPOT; Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte - immunology; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - complications; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - immunology; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - virology; Female; Herpesvirus 4, Human - immunology; Humans; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Immunoglobulin G - immunology; Immunologic Factors - therapeutic use; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocyte Count; Male; Middle Aged; Multiple Sclerosis - blood; Multiple Sclerosis - diagnosis; Multiple Sclerosis - drug therapy; Multiple Sclerosis - etiology; Virus Latency - immunology; Young Adult; EBV; B cells; CMV; ELISPOT; MS
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v8040105

There is a largely divergent body of literature regarding the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and brain inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we tested MS patients during relapse (n = 11) and in remission (n = 19) in addition to n = 22 healthy controls to study the correlation between the EBV- and brain-specific B cell response in the blood by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) was used as a control antigen tested in n = 16 MS patients during relapse and in n = 35 patients in remission. Over the course of the study, n = 16 patients were untreated, while n = 33 patients received immunomodulatory therapy. The data show that there was a moderate correlation between the frequencies of EBV- and brain-reactive B cells in MS patients in remission. In addition we could detect a correlation between the B cell response to EBV and disease activity. There was no evidence of an EBV reactivation. Interestingly, there was also a correlation between the frequencies of CMV- and brain-specific B cells in MS patients experiencing an acute relapse and an elevated B cell response to CMV was associated with higher disease activity. The trend remained when excluding seronegative subjects but was non-significant. These data underline that viral infections might impact the immunopathology of MS, but the exact link between the two entities remains subject of controversy.