US EditionStanford Researchers Link Lupus to Common Virus in ‘Breakthrough’ Study
The study identifies Epstein-Barr virus in immune cells as a key trigger for lupus, affecting 1.5 million Americans with 90% being women, potentially enabling targeted treatments.
- On Wednesday, Stanford Medicine researchers published a paper in Science Translational Medicine linking lupus to the Epstein-Barr virus, identifying the key missing link for how EBV causes lupus, Bill Robinson said.
- Researchers long sought why lupus develops, as its cause has eluded medical researchers for decades, and the Epstein‑Barr virus infects certain white blood cells, recruiting more immune cells into attacks.
- The Epstein‑Barr virus, carried by about 95% of Americans, is linked to lupus; Robinson plans to use targeted sequencing to remove infected cells, aiming to develop treatments.
- The discovery may reveal new prevention and treatment paths, with CAR T‑cell therapy removing B cells en masse to induce remission but risking immune weakening, Lupus Foundation of America said.
- This finding brings researchers closer to understanding why lupus develops and opens doors to prevention and cure strategies, but Betty Tsao cautioned other biological factors may complicate a cure.
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The Virginian Pilot
Stanford researchers link lupus to common virus in ‘breakthrough’ study
Kathleen Ford of Solano County was a nurse for more than 20 years, until one day she squatted down to help a patient and, hobbled by terrible joint pain, couldn’t stand up. Then in her 60s, Ford had been diagnosed with lupus years earlier. It’s a mysterious autoimmune disease that drives inflammation as the body’s own immune system fights tissue and organs instead of foreign intruders like viruses and bacteria. Symptoms are a rollercoaster, from…
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which remains silently in the organism of the vast majority of the world’s population, is directly responsible for manipulating a small number of immune cells to get out of control and convince many others to launch a widespread attack on body tissues, scientists show. The findings are published in Science Translational Medicine. “This is the most important discovery that has emerged from my laboratory throughout my…
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