The Study Of Relationships Between EB Virus, HHV6 Infection And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

Objective To explore the role of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and HHV 6 infection in the etiology of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and the relationship between EBV lytic gene expression and HHV 6 infection.Methods (1) 44 SLE patients and 43 matched normal controls in age and sex were tested for EBV specific DNA fragment in peripheral blood monocytes by PCR-Southern blotting. The expression of the EBV lytic genes BZLFI, BARF1 and BcLFlwas tested by RT-PCR and Southern blotting in EBV positive patients. (2) The HHV 6 DNA in peripheral blood monocytes of those SLE patients and normal individuals was tested by nested-PCR.Results (1) 32 SLE patients were EBV positive, 24 SLE patients had HHV 6 DNA fragment, and among those patients, 21 were positive both EBV and the HHV 6 DNA fragment. Of the control group, 3 were EBV positive, 25 were HHV 6 DNA positive, and one of them was co-positive. Statistics analysis showed that the EBV positive rate of SLE patients was significant higher than that of normal group( x 2=39.0992, P=0),while the difference of the HHV 6 positive rate between the two groups was not significant ( x 2=0.1142, P=0.7354), The positivity of EBV and HHV 6 in SLE patients had a significant correlation (P=0.0159, r=0.3634) . (2)EBV early gene BARF1 mRNA was detected in 2 cases of EBV-positive SLE patients (the positive cases were SLE active phase), and these two patients were also HHV 6 DNA positive; 16 patients were EBV late gene BcLFI mRNA positive, and 14 of them were HHV 6 positive as well. They had a significant correlation ( x 2=6.788 , P=0.023 ) . The expression of EBV immediately early gene BZLFI was negative in all of the 32 EBV positive SLE patients.Conclusion EBV lytic infection is present in SLE patients. In SLE patients, the positivity of EBV and EBV late gene BcLFI mRNA have a significant correlation with HHV 6. EBV and HHV 6 infection have a co-accelerated effect in SLE patients.