Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 4.
doi: 10.1007/82_2025_304. Online ahead of print.

EBV and Autoimmunity

Marianna Cortese  1 , Alberto Ascherio  2   3   4 , Kjetil Bjornevik  1   5
Affiliations

EBV and Autoimmunity

Marianna Cortese et al. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. .

Abstract

Although the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in autoimmunity is biologically plausible and evidence of altered immune responses to EBV is abundant in several autoimmune diseases, inference on causality requires the determination that disease risk is higher in individuals infected with EBV than in those uninfected and that in the latter it increases following EBV infection. This determination has so far been obtained compellingly for multiple sclerosis (MS) and, to some extent, for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In contrast, evidence is either lacking or not supportive for other autoimmune conditions. In this chapter, we present the main epidemiological findings that justify these conclusions and their implications for prevention and treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Abrahamyan S, Eberspacher B, Hoshi MM, Aly L, Luessi F, Groppa S, Klotz L, Meuth SG, Schroeder C, Gruter T, Tackenberg B, Paul F, Then-Bergh F, Kumpfel T, Weber F, Stangel M, Bayas A, Wildemann B, Heesen C, Zettl U, Warnke C, Antony G, Hessler N, Wiendl H, Bittner S, Hemmer B, Gold R, Salmen A, Ruprecht K et al (2020) Complete Epstein-Barr virus Seropositivity in a large cohort of patients with early multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 91:681–686
    1. Afrasiabi A, Keane JT, Ong LTC, Alinejad-Rokny H, Fewings NL, Booth DR, Parnell GP, Swaminathan S (2022) Genetic and transcriptomic analyses support a switch to lytic phase in Epstein Barr virus infection as an important driver in developing systemic lupus erythematosus. J Autoimmun 127:102781
    1. Aguirre A, Izadi Z, Trupin L, Barbour KE, Greenlund KJ, Katz P, Lanata C, Criswell L, Dall’era M, Yazdany J (2023) Race, ethnicity, and disparities in the risk of end-organ lupus manifestations following a systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis in a multiethnic cohort. Arthrit Care Res (Hoboken) 75:34–43
    1. Aloisi F, Salvetti M (2024) Ebv infection drives Ms pathology: yes. Mult Scler 30:483–485
    1. Aloisi F, Giovannoni G, Salvetti M (2023) Epstein-Barr virus as a cause of multiple sclerosis: opportunities for prevention and therapy. Lancet Neurol 22:338–349

LinkOut - more resources