AN EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS-RELATED CROSS-REACTIVE AUTOIMMUNE-RESPONSE IN MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS IN NORWAY

In studies of patients in Norway with multiple sclerosis (MS), we have found cross reactive autoantibodies related to the Epstein Barr virus nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1). The MS patients had elevated Ige antibody to EBNA-1, as measured by reactivity with a synthetic glycine/alanine peptide, P62, which represents the glycine/alanine repeat in EBNA-1. The mean titer of anti-P62 in patients with acute relapse at the time of assay was significantly higher than in the remaining patients. Pati ents with remitting/relapsing MS also had elevated autoantibody to a l ymphocyte protein, p542, cross reactive with EBNA-1 through a glycine/ serine epitope. High titered anti-EBNA-1 antibodies from some MS, as w ell as from some SLE sera, were shown to cross react with 80-82 kDa an d 60 kDa proteins in neuroglial cells.