Epstein–Barr virus and its association with rheumatoid arthritis and oral lichen planus

CONTEXT: Pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases (AD) is one of a multifactorial milieu. A genetic predisposition, an immune system failure, hormonal imbalance and environmental factors play important roles. Among the many environmental factors, the role of infection is gaining importance in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune disorders; among them, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) plays a pivotal role. Literature states an association of various AD with EBV namely multiple sclerosis, autoimmune thyroiditis, systemic lupus erythematous, oral lichen planus (OLP), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), autoimmune hepatitis, Sjögren's syndrome and Kawasaki disease; among these, the most commonly occurring are OLP and RA. AIM: Considering the frequency of occurrences, our aim was to perform a qualitative analysis of EBV viral capsid antigen (EBV VCA) IgG in the sera of patients with RA, OLP and establish a comparison with normal. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: In-vitro experiment in a research laboratory. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Five-milliliter blood sample was collected from 25 patients diagnosed with RA and OLP. Serum was separated and EBV VCA IgG antibody titer was detected using NovaTec EBV VCA IgG ELISA kit. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square test. RESULTS: Six out of 25 subjects with RA and 4 out of 25 subjects with OLP tested positive for EBV VCA IgG. CONCLUSIONS: Both environmental and genetic factors are important contributory components for autoimmune conditions. Screening for viral etiology would improve the efficacy of conventional treatment and reduce the risk of relapses.