Thread by @LorettaNoire

Interesting. I wish my brain worked, brainfog is thick atm.
#bipolar #EBV #autoimmune
Hypothesis: bipolar disorder is an Epstein–Barr virus‐driven chronic autoimmune disease – implications for immunotherapy
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

The high anti‐EBV antibody titres in BD might reflect a high number of EBV‐infected cells. It is interesting to note that clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat BD, inhibits EBV reactivation.

If BD is an EBV‐induced chronic autoimmune disease, there are two ways to control EBV infection specifically and therefore treat BD: (1) treatment with antiviral drugs; and (2) improving immunity to EBV.

In the future, drugs targeting specific EBV proteins, such as small‐molecule inhibitors of EBNA1 DNA binding, have the potential to be more effective in controlling EBV infection.

I have here proposed the novel hypothesis that BD is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by EBV infection of autoreactive B cells, which accumulate in the brain where they facilitate an autoimmune attack on brain components such as the NMDA receptor.

According to the hypothesis, BD should be able to be treated by EBV‐specific T‐cell therapy and to be prevented by vaccination against EBV early in life.