EBV & other testing

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sending that article, . A little more education......a lot of

good it does, huh? I've had RA 15 years and developed Sjogren's syndrome about

3 years ago. Funny, but my opthamologist and my rheumatologist were not

surprised. " Autoimmune diseases often go hand-in-hand " they said. Also, I

could develop more of them, they warned. Great!

The Sjogren's is a nuisance (eyedrops, eyedrops, eyedrops) but definitely not as

bad as RA. I don't believe any dr has checked my titer for anti-Epstein-Barr

antibodies but my initial testing showed the HLA-DR4 gene marker for RA.

Anyone else been tested for this stuff?

I was told when I started Humira that patients taking it have >30% chance of

developing a lymphoma. I asked what happens then and the dr said that they stop

the Humira and the lymphoma goes away.

Joy

Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2008 Oct;22(5):883- 96.

Epstein-Barr virus in autoimmune diseases.

Toussirot E, Roudier J.

Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Minjoz, Besançon;

and EA 3186 Agents Pathogènes et Inflammation, University of Franche

Comté, Besançon, France.

Autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),

rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are

complex disorders with a genetic background and the involvement of

environmental factors, including viruses. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)

is a plausible candidate for playing a role in the pathophysiology of

these diseases. Both SLE and RA are characterized by high titers of

anti-EBV antibodies and impaired T-cell responses to EBV antigens.

Compared with normal subjects, elevated EBV load in peripheral blood

has been observed in SLE and RA. EBV DNA or RNA has been evidenced in

target organs of RA (synovium) or pSS (salivary glands). Finally,

molecular mimicry has been demonstrated between EBV proteins and self

antigens in these three conditions. In addition, SLE, RA, and pSS are

associated with an increased risk of lymphoma with a potential role

for EBV. The influence of new and emergent treatments of these

autoimmune diseases (biological therapies) on EBV load and the course

of latent EBV infection requires further studies.

PMID: 19028369

http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih..gov/ pubmed/19028369

Not an MD