Discovery of a mechanism responsible for chronic inflammation in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease. The defense system that usually protects patients from external aggression turns on its own cells and attacks them for reasons that are not yet known. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur have shown that ancient viruses are involved in the acute inflammatory defense response that may contribute to the disease.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an incurable inflammatory autoimmune disease that leads to irreversible damage to the brain and spinal cord. This disease is also associated with the reactivation of ancient viruses, which were inserted in our DNA during the evolution of humankind. It was therefore long thought that multiple sclerosis was due to a viral infection.

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