Epstein-Barr virus infection, B-cell dysfunction and other risk factors converge in gut-associated lymphoid tissue to drive the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis: a hypothesis.

Multiple sclerosis is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, B-cell dysfunction, gut dysbiosis, and environmental and genetic risk factors, including female sex. A disease model incorporating all these factors remains elusive. Here, we hypothesise that EBV-infected memory B cells (MBCs) migrate to gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) through EBV-induced expression of LPAM-1, where they are subsequently activated by gut microbes and/or their products resulting in EBV reactivation and compartmentalised anti-EBV immune responses.

Narrowband UVB phototherapy reduces TNF production by B-cell subsets stimulated via TLR7 from individuals with early multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: At the end of a 60-day course of narrowband UVB phototherapy, administered to individuals with early multiple sclerosis, there were changes in the relative proportions of circulating B-cell subsets. This study investigated phototherapy-associated changes to cytokine responses of B cells when exposed to a TLR7 ligand.

Methods: PBMCs from participants of the PhoCIS (Phototherapy for Clinically Isolated Syndrome) trial taken before (day 1) and after phototherapy for 8 weeks (day 60) were incubated with, or without, the TLR7 ligand, R848, for 18 h.

A novel taxon selection method, aimed at minimizing recombination, clarifies the discovery of a new sub-population of from Australia.

We present a novel method for taxon selection, the aim being to minimize problems arising from highly recombinant species such as . has accompanied modern-human migration out of Africa and is marked by a phylogeographic strain distribution, which has been exploited to add an extra layer of information about human migrations to that obtained from human sources. However, genome has high sequence heterogeneity combined with a very high rate of recombination, causing major allelic diversification across strains.