title: Serostatus of Epstein-Barr virus in Iranian MS patients.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common, complex disorder. Associations of MS with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in Caucasian populations are well documented. However, in the Iranian population, previous studies have been conflicting. Sixty patients with MS and 50 healthy controls were tested for anti-EBV antibodies using chemiluminescent assays. All MS patients to be seropositive for EBV as compared to 82 % of controls (p = 0.0006). A strong, significant association of MS with EBV infection was documented, similar to studies in first world populations. Future studies should investigate the temporal sequence of infection to try to understand the cause of the recent increase in MS risk in Iran.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Hemmat Highway, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sajad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karampoor
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. hamid.6300@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zahednasab
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Angila Ataei
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pirkouh
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hamid Reza
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Monavari
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit and Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK.
authors.forename: Sreeram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramagopalan
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. keyvanlab@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keyvani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; C417029:EBV-encoded nuclear antigen 1
keywords: Environmental factors; Epstein–Barr virus; Immunoglobulin; Infection; Multiple sclerosis; Serology