Vaccines can protect against the virus behind multiple sclerosis
Written byTimes Magazine
Stroke can prevent the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever and is increasingly linked to multiple sclerosis, lymphoma, and stomach cancer.
A vaccine that protects against the common Epstein-Barr virus to potentially prevent glandular fever, multiple sclerosis (MS), and even some cancers are showing promise in mice, ferrets, and monkeys. The human experience is expected to begin in 2023.
Gary Nabel of ModeX Therapeutics in Natick, Massachusetts, and his colleagues developed a vaccine that exposes the body to two proteins that the Epstein-Barr virus uses to enter cells and trains the immune system to recognize pathogens upon exposure.
Early experiments showed that mice, ferrets, and rhesus monkeys developed antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus after vaccination.
To better understand the potential for stroke in humans, the researchers created mice with human-like immune systems. Only 17% of mice infected after receiving antibodies from other rodents were vaccinated when exposed to the Epstein-Barr virus. In contrast, 100% of the antibody-free mice were infected.
"This is an auspicious result because we could almost block the virus completely and prevent it from causing low-level infections on its own," Nabel said.
None of the mice that received the vaccine-induced antibodies developed lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system increasingly associated with the Epstein-Barr virus, compared to half of the unprotected mice.
If the vaccine proves safe and effective in humans, it could be given to children to prevent Epstein-Barr-related diseases, Nabel said.
Moderna, the American company better known for its Covid-19 vaccine, recently started clinical trials for its Epstein-Barr stroke. The Moderna vaccine differs from ModeX in that, like the Covid-19 vaccine, it uses mRNA to instruct cells to produce some of the Epstein-Barr virus proteins instead of directly.
Julia Morahan from MS Australia said both vaccines looked promising, but MS is a progressive disease, and it will be decades before we can assess its potential.
"If we can give every child a vaccine, we'll have to wait 25 years to see if they will develop MS," he said.
Trending News
