“While these results are very preliminary and much more research is needed, we are excited there were no serious side effects,” said study author Michael Pender, MD, PhD, of The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
The study investigates the relationship between MS and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpes virus that is extremely common but causes no symptoms in most people. However, when a person contracts the virus as a teenager or adult, it often leads to mononucleosis. Previous research has shown a link between the virus and MS.
The study involved six people with progressive MS with moderate to severe disability. People with progressive MS have a severe condition with slow, steady worsening of symptoms.
In MS, the body’s immune system attacks the nerves in the central nervous system. As part of the normal immune response, immune cells called T cells and B cells work together to protect the body against infectious agents. In some people with MS, the immune response may be altered and T cells may be unable to control EBV-infected B cells, which accumulate in the brain and produce antibodies that attack and destroy myelin, the protective layer that insulates nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This in turns leads to neurologic dysfunction and symptoms. Elimination of the EBV-infected B cells may reduce the destruction of myelin in MS.
For the study, researchers removed the participants’ own T cells and stimulated them to boost their ability to recognize and destroy cells infected with Epstein-Barr virus. They then injected participants with infusions of escalating doses of T cells every two weeks for six weeks. They followed the patients through 26 weeks to look for evidence of side effects and possible improvement of symptoms.
Three of the participants showed improvement, starting two to eight weeks after the first infusion.