Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative and inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), is idiopathic, despite its description more than 150 years ago years. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Over the years, a long list of viruses have been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS); however, to date no virus has been definitively implicated in the onset of MS. In recent years, many studies have used various methods to detect a possible correlation between HHV and MS. Some human herpesviruses (HHV) have been correlated with the development of MS because they are latent and ubiquitous neurotropics. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) is a highly likely cause as it is highly neurotropic, characterized by latency and periodic reactivation and the same factors associated with virus reactivation, such as stress, have also been associated with exacerbation of MS, and it is ubiquitous, the primary infection usually occurs during the first two years of life. Studies have reported the presence of viral DNA in the brain and CSF of MS patients and controls support that HHV-6 has strong neurotropism. Other studies report higher levels of viral mRNA in MS brains compared to control brains, particularly in demyelinated plaques. CNS studies are not the only ones to establish an association between HHV-6 and MS. Other studies focus on early observations of HHV-6 in serum associated with the detection of an immune response to the virus in MS patients with clinically active disease. A population study in Iran found higher levels of IgM and IgG against HHV-6 in MS patients than in controls. 78.2% of MS patients test positive for HHV-6-specific IgG antibodies, compared to 76.4% of healthy people. The frequency of HHV-6 specific IgM in the normal population was 6.5%, compared to 34.6% of MS patients. HHV-6 DNA was detected in the serum of 60.2% of MS patients and only 14.6% of healthy patients. Regarding HHV-6 subtypes, a study detected the prevalence of the virus in the serum of relapsing-remitting MS patients and healthy blood donors and showed that only type A is DNA positive in MS patients. , both in the form of relapse and remission. Furthermore, studies on the mechanisms of demyelination and oligodendrocyte damage have reinforced the idea that viruses can lead to MS. One such mechanism is molecular mimicry between a pathogen and a self molecule, which leads to the generation of a cross-reactive immune response between the pathogen and self. There is a segment of identical amino acids between the HHV-6 U24 protein and human myelin basic protein. A recent American study focused on the role of the HHV-6 U94 protein in disrupting the migration of human oligodendrocyte progenitors. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies on the prevalence of this virus in Iraq, only two recent studies. One of them was carried out on the association of HHV-6 with certain hematological malignancies, which showed that the rate of appearance of this virus by the PCR technique was 4.6% in patients, in comparison with the control of 0%, and that the rate..