An updated meta-analysis of risk of multiple sclerosis following infectious mononucleosis.

Journal article

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) appears to develop in genetically susceptible individuals as a result of environmental exposures. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is an almost universal finding among individuals with MS. Symptomatic EBV infection as manifested by infectious mononucleosis (IM) has been shown in a previous meta-analysis to be associated with the risk of MS, however a number of much larger studies have since been published. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed a Medline search to identify articles published since the original meta-analysis investigating MS risk following IM. A total of 18 articles were included in this study, including 19390 MS patients and 16007 controls. We calculated the relative risk of MS following IM using a generic inverse variance with random effects model. This showed that the risk of MS was strongly associated with IM (relative risk (RR) 2.17; 95% confidence interval 1.97-2.39; p<10(-54)). DISCUSSION: Our results establish firmly that a history of infectious mononucleosis significantly increases the risk of multiple sclerosis. Future work should focus on the mechanism of this association and interaction with other risk factors.

Authors: Handel, A; Williamson, A; Disanto, G; Handunnetthi, L; Giovannoni, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Journal: PloS one
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 1-5
• Publication date: 2010-01-01
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012496
• EISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Language: English
• Keywords: Risk Factors; Infectious Mononucleosis; Female; Multiple Sclerosis; Cohort Studies; Male; Humans