Association Between Copies Of Epstein-Barr Virus And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective : Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was considered to be one of the environmental factors that were suspected of predisposing to SLE based on the characteristics of EBV infection and on homology of sequences between autoantigens and EBV antigens. Clarification of the strength of EBV replication in SLE patients would help us to understand better about the etiological association between the EBV active infection and SLE.Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 49 cases of SLE patients who were divided into mild match (SLEDAI<5, 25 cases) and severe match (SLEDAI=5, 24 cases ) and 20 healthy controls. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR) was used to detect the copies of EBV DNA in blood. The levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and anti-EB V VCA-IgG antibody were also determined with ELIS A and RIA respectively at the same time. X analysis, t and t' test were used in the statistic treatmentResults: SLE Patients had an over 20-fold increase in EBV viral load compared with controls, and it couldn't be explained by the disease activity orimmunosuppressive medication. No correlation was found between EBV loads and anti-dsDNA.Conclusion: There was significant higher load of EBV DNA in the blood of SLE patients. This data strongly support the hypothesis that close association exists between EBV active infection and the occurrence of SLE while no clear correlation was found between EBV active infection and the disease progress.