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MS and EBV infection direct proof
this is very interesting because MS is treated by high dose vitd25oh serum levels 150-160ng/ml and it was supposed to work because vit d suppresses th17 which makes autoimmunity but high levels of vit d probably reactivate all immune system towards EBV infection overall and not just th17 part.
so this confirms the hypotesis about vitamin d as a general immune modulator for viral/bacterial infections but probably only at stable levels 150-160ng/ml because of resistance to vit d in chronic infections
http://www.msaustralia.org.au/news/queensland-researchers-make-major-breakthrough-ms-treatment
5 February 2014
NEW Queensland research suggests that controlling infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) – the most common cause of glandular fever – may be beneficial in treating multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the brain and spinal cord affecting more than 23,000 Australians.
The study led by Professor Michael Pender with collaborators at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland School of Medicine, and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital describes a new treatment that boosts CD8 T cell immunity to EBV with adoptive immunotherapy that could potentially treat progressive MS and other chronic autoimmune diseases. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available for progressive MS patients.
The researchers administered a six week treatment course to a 43 year old man with secondary progressive MS. The treatment had no adverse effects and within two weeks of commencing treatment the patient began to experience clinical improvement. These improvements were sustained up to the most recent follow-up 21 weeks later.
Results of the study were published today in the international Multiple Sclerosis Journal.
The treatment involves collecting immune cells known as T cells from the patient’s blood, growing them in the laboratory with an EBV vaccine and then transferring the cells back to the patient by intravenous infusion. The treatment was developed by Professor Rajiv Khanna of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute to treat patients with EBV-related malignancy and does not require the use of any drugs.
This is the first use of this treatment, known as EBV-specific adoptive immunotherapy, to treat progressive MS.
Professor Pender said: “The beneficial effect of boosting immunity to EBV by this treatment highlights the importance of impaired immunity to EBV in the development of MS. We believe the treatment corrects the impaired CD8 T cell immunity that allowed EBV infection to cause MS.”
The Brisbane patient, Mr Gary Allen, suffered what he now knows was his first MS attack in 1994 which led to a clinical diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS in 2000 and later progressed into secondary progressive MS. Since 2008 Gary has been unable to walk or transfer himself without assistance, but has remained working full-time from home.
Following the treatment, Gary experienced a significant reduction in fatigue and painful spasms, an improvement in thinking, memory, attention and hand function, and increased productivity at work. There was also reduced disease activity on his MRI brain scan. At the latest follow-up Gary also had improvement in leg movement.
Gary said the treatment enabled him to perform everyday tasks more easily such as actively assisting with showering, dressing and shopping, and spending more time with his son.
“It’s impossible to overstate the significance of the improvements I’ve enjoyed – whether you look at my work at Griffith University, time with family or resurgent social life, it’s been an amazing change for the better,” he said.
Professor Pender said that the symptom improvement was backed up by other evidence such as the reduction in disease activity on brain scans and reduction in antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Professor Pender receives funding from MS Queensland and MS Research Australia. “Treatments for progressive MS are one of the greatest needs,” commented Dr Matthew Miles, Chief Executive of MS Research Australia. “We are delighted with the results of Professor Pender’s research and congratulate him on this outcome.”
This breakthrough study has profound implications globally for understanding the cause of MS and for the treatment of MS, particularly in its progressive phase, for which currently there is no effective disease-modifying therapy.
A clinical trial is now needed to determine safety and therapeutic efficacy across the clinical spectrum of MS.
To access Professor Pender’s published paper visit www.msqld.org.au
To see more coverage of the story visit http://au.news.yahoo.com/qld/video/watch/21264809/world-first-ms-treatment-unveiled/
- See more at: http://www.msaustralia.org.au/news/queensland-researchers-make-major-breakthrough-ms-treatment#sthash.5Z0ZkwYl.dpuf
so this confirms the hypotesis about vitamin d as a general immune modulator for viral/bacterial infections but probably only at stable levels 150-160ng/ml because of resistance to vit d in chronic infections
http://www.msaustralia.org.au/news/queensland-researchers-make-major-breakthrough-ms-treatment
5 February 2014
NEW Queensland research suggests that controlling infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) – the most common cause of glandular fever – may be beneficial in treating multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the brain and spinal cord affecting more than 23,000 Australians.
The study led by Professor Michael Pender with collaborators at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland School of Medicine, and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital describes a new treatment that boosts CD8 T cell immunity to EBV with adoptive immunotherapy that could potentially treat progressive MS and other chronic autoimmune diseases. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available for progressive MS patients.
The researchers administered a six week treatment course to a 43 year old man with secondary progressive MS. The treatment had no adverse effects and within two weeks of commencing treatment the patient began to experience clinical improvement. These improvements were sustained up to the most recent follow-up 21 weeks later.
Results of the study were published today in the international Multiple Sclerosis Journal.
The treatment involves collecting immune cells known as T cells from the patient’s blood, growing them in the laboratory with an EBV vaccine and then transferring the cells back to the patient by intravenous infusion. The treatment was developed by Professor Rajiv Khanna of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute to treat patients with EBV-related malignancy and does not require the use of any drugs.
This is the first use of this treatment, known as EBV-specific adoptive immunotherapy, to treat progressive MS.
Professor Pender said: “The beneficial effect of boosting immunity to EBV by this treatment highlights the importance of impaired immunity to EBV in the development of MS. We believe the treatment corrects the impaired CD8 T cell immunity that allowed EBV infection to cause MS.”
The Brisbane patient, Mr Gary Allen, suffered what he now knows was his first MS attack in 1994 which led to a clinical diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS in 2000 and later progressed into secondary progressive MS. Since 2008 Gary has been unable to walk or transfer himself without assistance, but has remained working full-time from home.
Following the treatment, Gary experienced a significant reduction in fatigue and painful spasms, an improvement in thinking, memory, attention and hand function, and increased productivity at work. There was also reduced disease activity on his MRI brain scan. At the latest follow-up Gary also had improvement in leg movement.
Gary said the treatment enabled him to perform everyday tasks more easily such as actively assisting with showering, dressing and shopping, and spending more time with his son.
“It’s impossible to overstate the significance of the improvements I’ve enjoyed – whether you look at my work at Griffith University, time with family or resurgent social life, it’s been an amazing change for the better,” he said.
Professor Pender said that the symptom improvement was backed up by other evidence such as the reduction in disease activity on brain scans and reduction in antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Professor Pender receives funding from MS Queensland and MS Research Australia. “Treatments for progressive MS are one of the greatest needs,” commented Dr Matthew Miles, Chief Executive of MS Research Australia. “We are delighted with the results of Professor Pender’s research and congratulate him on this outcome.”
This breakthrough study has profound implications globally for understanding the cause of MS and for the treatment of MS, particularly in its progressive phase, for which currently there is no effective disease-modifying therapy.
A clinical trial is now needed to determine safety and therapeutic efficacy across the clinical spectrum of MS.
To access Professor Pender’s published paper visit www.msqld.org.au
To see more coverage of the story visit http://au.news.yahoo.com/qld/video/watch/21264809/world-first-ms-treatment-unveiled/
- See more at: http://www.msaustralia.org.au/news/queensland-researchers-make-major-breakthrough-ms-treatment#sthash.5Z0ZkwYl.dpuf
this post is about confirming the hypothesis that we may benefit to from vitd25oh serum levels 150-160ng/ml especially during pegintf therapy.
of course doing this doctor monitoring is mandatory and also no diaries diet
of course doing this doctor monitoring is mandatory and also no diaries diet
http://www.healthline.com/health-news/ms-is-there-a-connection-between-ms-and-evb-infection-061213
Multiple Sclerosis and EBV: Relapsing Together
In a new study published on April 11, investigators in Italy found that, in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the immune response to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) appeared to cycle simultaneously with their disease activity, meaning that when the virus was active, so was their MS.
The study, conducted by investigators at the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, Italy examined cytotoxic (CD8+) T-cells, which are cells that kill infected or abnormal cells in the body. They found an increased response to the antigens produced by active EBV in the blood of MS patients during relapses, as compared with samples taken during periods of remission. Antigens are substances that the body sees as foreign or harmful—including toxins from viruses like Epstein-Barr—and deploys an immune response to find and kill.
EBV is a member of the herpesvirus family and, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly 95 percent of all people between the ages of 35 and 40 have been infected by it. EBV is responsible for the viral infection known as mononucleosis (or “mono”). EBV only results in mono in 35 to 50 percent of patients, while others never show any outward signs that they've been infected.
Although the symptoms of mono, which include a fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands, eventually go away, EBV takes up a permanent residence in certain cells in the immune system where it lies dormant for years.
For people who suffer from RRMS, the cycles of disease activity can be as varied and irregular as the symptoms they produce. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. The immune system attacks the myelin, or protective covering, of nerve cells in the brain, causing electrical “shorts” in the signaling pathways.
This can result in symptoms ranging from mild numbness to blindness or complete paralysis. In the relapsing-remitting form of MS, these attacks can last from a few days to several months. The flare-ups are followed by periods of remission where there is a lessening of disease activity.
More than 400,000 people have been diagnosed with MS in the United States, and more than 1.2 million worldwide. According to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, about 80 to 85 percent of MS patients are initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.
continued in the linked page
Multiple Sclerosis and EBV: Relapsing Together
In a new study published on April 11, investigators in Italy found that, in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the immune response to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) appeared to cycle simultaneously with their disease activity, meaning that when the virus was active, so was their MS.
The study, conducted by investigators at the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, Italy examined cytotoxic (CD8+) T-cells, which are cells that kill infected or abnormal cells in the body. They found an increased response to the antigens produced by active EBV in the blood of MS patients during relapses, as compared with samples taken during periods of remission. Antigens are substances that the body sees as foreign or harmful—including toxins from viruses like Epstein-Barr—and deploys an immune response to find and kill.
EBV is a member of the herpesvirus family and, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly 95 percent of all people between the ages of 35 and 40 have been infected by it. EBV is responsible for the viral infection known as mononucleosis (or “mono”). EBV only results in mono in 35 to 50 percent of patients, while others never show any outward signs that they've been infected.
Although the symptoms of mono, which include a fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands, eventually go away, EBV takes up a permanent residence in certain cells in the immune system where it lies dormant for years.
For people who suffer from RRMS, the cycles of disease activity can be as varied and irregular as the symptoms they produce. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. The immune system attacks the myelin, or protective covering, of nerve cells in the brain, causing electrical “shorts” in the signaling pathways.
This can result in symptoms ranging from mild numbness to blindness or complete paralysis. In the relapsing-remitting form of MS, these attacks can last from a few days to several months. The flare-ups are followed by periods of remission where there is a lessening of disease activity.
More than 400,000 people have been diagnosed with MS in the United States, and more than 1.2 million worldwide. According to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, about 80 to 85 percent of MS patients are initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.
continued in the linked page
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