Environment before adulthood in Multiple Sclerosis etiology

Through Swedish multiple sclerosis (MS) registers and microbiological biobanks crosslink, we have formed the world´s largest material with pre-symptomatically drawn serum samples. This was partly funded by the Swedish Research Council (2015-02419) and allows studies on how risk factors (e.g.

Epstein-Barr virus and other viruses, vitamin D levels, and a marker for overweight) interact 10-20-years before the clinical onset of MS. Simultaneous analysis of neurofilament identifies which risk factors are associated with neuronal injury.

Until now we have used 1 sample per case and matched control, but we now wish to add consecutive samples, allowing us to study the time and order of events such as virus infections.