A potential new vaccine against the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), a virus associated with multiple sclerosis and certain types of cancer, has shown promising results in mice. To reveal it, an article just published on Nature Communications. Currently, several studies are already underway to study possible therapies capable of fighting the virus and its effects since to date there is no cure to protect against this widespread virus.
The Epstein Barr Virus is part of the herpes virus family and is transmitted by the exchange of saliva or through droplets produced as a result of coughing or sneezing or, again, by sharing objects with infected people. It is a very common and generally harmless virus, estimated to infect at least 95% of the world‘s adult population. Unlike other viruses, the researchers say, EBV is not cleared by the immune system after primary infection and remains in the body for life. EBV infection usually goes undetected and is discovered by the presence of antibodies in the blood. However, especially in adolescents and adults, EBV can cause infectious mononucleosis, a slowly developing disease with unspecific complaints: fever, pharyngitis, enlarged lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy). Usually, mononucleosis heals without leaving particular consequences but, in some circumstances, it can cause even serious complications (see infectious mononucleosis).
Recently it has been shown that infection with the Epstein Barr Virus also increases the risk of developing multiple sclerosis, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and some types of throat and nose cancers. A fundamental contribution to the research was made by a study conducted by the Italian researcher Alberto Ascherio of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston which provided convincing evidence on the causal link between virus infection and the onset of multiple sclerosis. And it is for these potential risks that scientists around the world are trying to combat these serious diseases with the EBV virus ‘attack’ route. In this new Australian study, researcher Rajiv Khanna and colleagues at the Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia designed a vaccine that targets lymph nodes and tested its efficacy in a mouse model. They found that vaccine administration resulted in the production of potent EBV-specific antibodies and T cells, which were maintained for at least seven months after vaccination in the mouse model. Critically, the authors also demonstrated the vaccine‘s ability to induce immunity to control the spread of EBV-associated tumors and control tumor growth in a mouse model of lymphoma. Further research is needed to determine the vaccine‘s performance in primary infection and how the results obtained in mice apply to humans, including assessing the long-term stability of vaccine-induced immunity.
Lella Simone
The study in Nature
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