Epstein-Barr virus infects human cells and makes them impossible to kill by the immune system. Now researchers have designed an artificial protein that enters infected cells, binds to virus, and activates the immune system to kill the infected cell. reddit/r/science/comments/29tpqe/epsteinbarr_virus_infects_human_cells_and_makes/ • Oh my god, I have complications from epstein-barr, as far as anyone can tell... my jaw dropped and I cried reading this. Please dear god let it happen soon. I cant even imagine how much normal my life could become. This is amazing. • If they are experimenting with it, it will take 10 years minimum. • I know, but Im still young. As long as I can not feel like shit in my elderly years, Im okay with this. Let it happen! • May i ask your complications? • Not op, but my boyfriend had some complications. His spleen was enlarged, and he had chronic fatigue, but it went away after a couple of years. Specifically, his spleen was enlarged for a bit more than a year, and he couldnt do sports(we were in high school). The chronic fatigue hung around for about two years, maybe three, gradually the episodes got further apart and now hes fine. • Those are actually very common complications of EBV infection--though your boyfriend had a long course, these are not the feared and potentially life-altering, life-threatening complications of EBV infection that OP was probably talking about. EBV is associated with a variety of uniquely awful long-term complications, including certain types of cancer--Hodgkins lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and some very rare primary cancers of the brain and lymphatic system--and autoimmunity. I would imagine that OP is talking about the autoimmune conditions, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and MS, to name only a few. Most herpesviruses (EBVs scientific name is human herpesvirus-4, or HHV-4) can immortalize themselves and live within the human body for months to years between infections; EBV is unique in its ability to immortalize human B-cells, which are responsible for producing antibodies during infection, and for activating T-cells that kill viruses. If your B-cells are activated inappropriately you produce antibodies against your own tissues and organs, and the T-cells that typically kill viruses are also directed against your own tissues and organs. The resulting diseases are very difficult to treat and can be extremely long-lived and unpleasant. • I contracted EBV at 30 and it wrecked my immune system and left my with a gluten intolerance. Good times. • Wait, what? Do you have any sources showing this is possible? You may have just answered a major question Ive been looking into. • Check out the Wikipedia article on EBV, thats where I read about those complications and it probably links to sources. I believe I also have those complications. I have MS, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimotos thyroiditis and pernicious anemia. I was recently tested for cytomegalovirus (related to EBV) to check out the virus hypothesis of multiple autoimmunity, and my awesome doctor checked on EBV as well, which I find out I have. Going after the (possible) source of my immune system-gone-haywire would be amazing, and I have the same hopes as the OP from this article (Im only 28). • Cant claim to have any sources to have back this up to hand. However, I got EBV and full-blown glandular fever around Christmas time last year (still struggling with the fatigue). I can also longer tolerate gluten. I seem to remember reading a couple of medical journal entries that said that people can develop new intolerances and even new allergies after getting the virus. So, theres something out there if you check Google scholar . • I have an allergy list that most people hate to hear, its long. I figured it was related since it happened with everything else. :( • Thats really interesting - I had mono as a child, then again when I was 19/20. I never had the chronic fatigue or anything - just an unbelievable sore throat that lasted for two weeks, general malaise, etc - the doctor tested me and told me it was mono at any rate. I recovered fine, but Ive recently been diagnosed with seronegative inflammatory arthritis which Im starting treatment for shortly. Im 28 now and had my symptoms since I was 26, no family history. I wonder if theyre related? • Thats the exact same position, ages, and conditions that Ive experienced. Please let me know how youre doing. My SN-Arthritis is really starting to cause trouble, so Im seeking treatment for it. I too wonder if it could all be related!? • So far Ive only got problems in my left thumb, wrist and one toe which are all swollen and painful to use. My wrist and thumb are also quite weak and I dont have much grip strength. Other than that, Im fine. No other symptoms really. Im starting on Sulfasalazine shortly which Im hoping for good things, just a little worried about potential side effects. As an aside, Im in the UK, so my treatment is free on the NHS (minus the prescription fees which are £8 a go (4 months medicine)). • So the term seronegative means that the blood markers that we use to diagnose things like rheumatoid arthritis are absent--sero = blood, negative = absent, in other words. In most cases of seronegative spondyloarthropathies--of which inflammatory arthritis is one condition--there isnt a blood marker like the kind that you get with EBV (theres a test called the monospot test or heterophile antibody test thats used to diagnose EBV infection). Without knowing all the details of your history, it is unlikely that EBV caused this condition--most seronegative spondyloarthropathies are genetic in nature, which is why they are seronegative (if there is a blood marker--i.e., seropositive--that usually means there is an infectious or environmental cause). That said, people who are genetically susceptible often just need an environmental or infectious cause to set off these conditions--reactive arthritis is a good example (which, it should be said, is a different condition than inflammatory arthritis), and frequently follows a GI infection by Campylobacter species of bacteria. Could EBV have set off the chain of events leading to your arthritis? Certainly its a possibility, but as above, I would lean more towards it being genetic in your case. Also, be sure that your doctor knows about your prior EBV infection, because the treatment for autoimmune diseases can cause reactivated EBV disease--Im sure s/he has that in mind, but it never hurts to be thorough. • Thanks for your comment, very interesting. Funnily enough I havent mentioned my previous EBV infection to my consultant, however Ill make a note to bring it up when I go back to her in a few months. Im starting on sulfasalazine shortly, so Im hoping that will clear things up for me in the mean time (its only my left thumb, wrist and a toe on my left foot that are causing my problems at the moment). (ू ͒•‧̫•ू⑅ ͒) Have you discovered Facebook Page Reddit Best Of Updates https://facebook/445685872190504 • Sign up for 30-200+ OKcupid Visitors every day. Just login to OKvisits It is free
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:53:07 +0000
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