OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the epidemiological evidence for an etiological role of Epstein-Barr virus in multiple sclerosis (MS). DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE and Cochrane Library searches of the medical literature identified 24 studies. DATA EXTRACTION: Studies were categorized as seroepidemiological, case-control or historical cohort, and were then classified within each group according to methodological rigour using criteria derived from published guidelines for the epidemiological study of MS. DATA SYNTHESIS: There was significant variability in the quality of evidence, and while two well-designed cohort studies found increased relative risks of MS in subjects with infectious mononucleosis, results from other studies were unconvincing. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence was insufficient to accept or reject the hypothesis that Epstein-Barr virus has an etiological role in MS. Further study, ideally using large samples of incident cases with blinded, trained interviewers using confirmatory sources for recalled data, is needed.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the epidemiological evidence for an etiological role of Epstein-Barr virus in multiple sclerosis (MS). DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE and Cochrane Library searches of the medical literature identified 24 studies. DATA EXTRACTION: Studies were categorized as seroepidemiological, case-control or historical cohort, and were then classified within each group according to methodological rigour using criteria derived from published guidelines for the epidemiological study of MS. DATA SYNTHESIS: There was significant variability in the quality of evidence, and while two well-designed cohort studies found increased relative risks of MS in subjects with infectious mononucleosis, results from other studies were unconvincing. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence was insufficient to accept or reject the hypothesis that Epstein-Barr virus has an etiological role in MS. Further study, ideally using large samples of incident cases with blinded, trained interviewers using confirmatory sources for recalled data, is needed.
Authors: G A SCHUMACHER; G BEEBE; R F KIBLER; L T KURLAND; J F KURTZKE; F MCDOWELL; B NAGLER; W A SIBLEY; W W TOURTELLOTTE; T L WILLMON Journal: Ann N Y Acad Sci Date: 1965-03-31 Impact factor: 5.691
Authors: B E Souberbielle; C Martin-Mondiere; M E O'Brien; C Carydakis; P Cesaro; J D Degos Journal: Acta Neurol Scand Date: 1990-11 Impact factor: 3.209
Authors: Pablo Granados-Durán; María Dolores López-Ávalos; Timothy R Hughes; Krista Johnson; B Paul Morgan; Paul P Tamburini; Pedro Fernández-Llebrez; Jesús M Grondona Journal: J Neuroinflammation Date: 2016-05-21 Impact factor: 8.322