title: EBV and systemic lupus erythematosus: a new perspective.
abstract: We have proposed that EBV uses mature B cell biology to access memory B cells as a site of persistent infection. A central feature of this model is that EBV adapts its gene expression profile to the state of the B cell it resides in and that the level of infection is stable over time. This led us to question whether changes in the behavior or regulation of mature B cells would alter the state of EBV persistence. To investigate this, we studied the impact of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disease characterized by immune dysfunction, on EBV infection. We show that patients with SLE have abnormally high frequencies of EBV-infected cells in their blood, and this is associated with the occurrence of SLE disease flares. Although patients with SLE have frequencies of infected cells comparable to those seen in immunosuppressed patients, in SLE the effect was independent of immunosuppressive therapy. Aberrant expression of viral lytic (BZLF1) and latency (latency membrane proteins 1 and 2a) genes was also detected in the blood of SLE patients. We conclude that the abnormal regulation of EBV infection in SLE patients reflects the sensitivity of the virus to perturbation of the immune system.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hochberg
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Rand
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Thorley-Lawson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014775:Virus Activation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017735:Virus Latency / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents