A common childhood virus appears to be the trigger for the autoimmune disease lupus, according to groundbreaking research.
The study suggests that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which for most people is harmless, can cause immune cells to “go rogue” and mistakenly attack the body’s own tissues. The team behind the work said that uncovering the cause of lupus could revolutionise treatments.
“We think it applies to 100% of lupus cases,” said Professor William Robinson, a professor of immunology and rheumatology at Stanford University and the study’s senior author. “I think it really sets the stage for a new generation of therapies that could fundamentally treat and thereby provide benefit to lupus patients.”
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