Epstein-Barr virus-specific adoptive immunotherapy for progressive multiple sclerosis

Michael P Pender1, Peter A Csurhes2, Corey Smith3

  • 1The University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia QIMR Centre for Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development and Department of Immunology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia m.pender@uq.edu.au.

Multiple Sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)
|February 5, 2014
PubMed

Defective control of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection by cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells might predispose to multiple sclerosis (MS) by allowing EBV-infected autoreactive B cells to accumulate in the central nervous system. We have treated a patient with secondary progressive MS with in vitro-expanded autologous EBV-specific CD8(+) T cells directed against viral latent proteins. This adoptive immunotherapy had no adverse effects and the patient showed clinical improvement with reduced disease activity on magnetic resonance imaging and decreased intrathecal immunoglobulin production. This is the first report of the use of EBV-specific adoptive immunotherapy to treat MS or any other autoimmune disease.

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