The Relationship Between Environmental Factors and the Profile of Epstein-Barr Virus Antibodies in the Lytic and Latent Infection Periods in Healthy Populations from Endemic and Non-Endemic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Areas in China

Our previous study found that smoking was associated with an elevated level of the antibody against VCA in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) lytic phase, which was an important predictive marker of the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). It remained unknown whether environmental factors were associated with the levels of other EBV antibodies, such as Zta-IgA, EA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA, and LMP1-IgA, in the lytic and latent infection periods. We aimed to investigate the possible environmental inducers that could affect EBV antibody levels in two independent healthy male populations from endemic NPC areas in South China (N = 1498) and non-endemic NPC areas in North China (N = 1961). We performed ELISA and immunoenzymatic assays to test the levels of antibodies specific to the EBV antigens. The seropositive rates of antibodies against the antigens expressed in both the EBV latent and lytic infection periods, namely, LMP1-IgA, EBNA1-IgA, and Zta-IgA, in endemic areas (28.65%, 5.43% and 14.49%, respectively) were significantly higher than those in non-endemic areas (14.43%, 1.07% and 6.32%, respectively). Smoking was associated with higher seropositivity for EBNA1-IgA (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.12–1.93) and Zta-IgA (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 0.99–1.66), with dose-response effects, while not associated with the levels of LMP1-IgA. In conclusion, smoking was an important environmental factor, which associated with increased levels of EBNA1-IgA, and Zta-IgA.