Does Clostridium Perfringens Epsilon Toxin Mimic an Auto-Antigen Involved in Multiple Sclerosis?

ABSTRACT: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated neurological disorder, characterized by progressive demyelination and neuronal cell loss in the central nervous system. Many possible causes of MS have been proposed, including genetic factors, environmental triggers, and infectious agents. Recently, Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin (ETX) has been incriminated in MS, based initially on the isolation of the bacteria from a MS patient, combined with an immunoreactivity to ETX. To investigate a putative causative role of ETX in MS, we analyzed the pattern of antibodies reacting to the toxin using a sensitive qualitative assay. This prospective observational study included one hundred patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), all untreated, and ninety matched h

SUBMITTER: Gougeon ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11768822 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature