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The interaction between smoking and Epstein-Barr virus as multiple sclerosis risk factors may depend on age
Jonatan Salzer1, Hans Stenlund, Peter Sundström
1Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Neurology at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract:
The multiple sclerosis (MS) risk factors smoking and remote Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection have been suggested to interact statistically, but the results are conflicting. In a prospective study on 192 MS cases and 384 matched controls, we analysed levels of cotinine as a marker of smoke exposure, and Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen-1 antibody reactivity. We assessed interaction on the additive and multiplicative scales, and estimated the effects of the risk factors across strata of each other. The results suggest that a negative interaction may be present in samples drawn at a young age, and a positive interaction among older subjects.
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