Epstein-Barr virus-specific cytotoxic T cell responses in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
The level of Epstein-Barr (EB) virus-specific cytotoxic T cell responsiveness was measured in 21 patients with active, progressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A significant number (8 out of 20) of EB virus sero-positive patients showed a markedly impaired responsiveness when compared with a control group of healthy individuals. Serological responses of the RA patients to EB virus antigens were not significantly different from the control group. The defect in EB virus-specific cellular immunity shown by these results is of interest in the light of previous evidence of an alteration in the virus-host balance in RA patients.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral