Another blank. Sargsyan and colleagues failed to find evidence of persistent infection in the cells that produce antibodies (plasma and B cells) within the brains of people with MS. Only in active MS plaques was EBV-encoded RNA (EBER)-1 rarely detected.
Conclusion: My take on this is that we need to focus on active and preactive MS lesions; I suspect that is where the action will be. Although the score at the moment is strongly against overt CNS EBV infection being a direct factor in MS pathogenesis we need to keep an open mind to the contrary. Post-mortem tissue studies are not necessarily the best means of investigating the link between active EBV infection within the central nervous system and MS.