Herpesviridae Seropositivity in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: First Polish Study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that leads to inflammation, demyelination and neurodegeneration. Viral aetiology has been suspected to be an MS trigger for a long time, and herpesviruses (HSs) are among the potential pathogens involved.

The present investigation aims to detect the presence of antibodies against the herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) in the serum of MS patients and control individuals in north-eastern Poland.

Plasma was collected from 141 MS patients and 44 blood donors who served as the control group. These individuals were assessed for the presence of antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

The statistical analysis showed a higher probability of EBV (p = 0.037, OR 4.359) and HHV6 (p = 0.020, OR 3.343) antibody presence in patients with MS compared to that in the control group. In the MS patient group, the prevalence of CMV IgG antibodies was significantly higher in females (p = 0.025). Patients who tested positive for anti-EBV IgG were diagnosed 7.9 years earlier than patients who tested negative for anti-EBV IgG (p = 0.048).

The study showed that MS patients in north-eastern Poland were more likely to be seropositive for EBV and HHV6 than healthy individuals. Further work should be undertaken in other regions of Poland and other European countries with particular attention paid to testing seropositivity in all HSs, particularly in the MS patient population, to evaluate the impact of HSs on MS patients in different environments.