title: Investigation of bacterial and viral agents and immune status in Behcet's disease patients from Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Behçet's disease (BD) is an autoimmune disorder associated with HLA-B51 positivity. Serologic/genomic findings have suggested microbes as possible causative agents and the geographical distribution suggests environmental influences.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed comparative analyses of 40 patients with BD or related symptoms not fulfilling BD criteria. Patients originating from different regions of Iran were tested by molecular/serological methods for human herpes viruses and parvovirus B19, two Chlamydiae species, as well as Coxiella, Listeria, Yersinia, Leptospira and Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Human leukocyte antigen-typing was performed: testing of cytokine profiles and immune mediators representative for the cellular immune system, including neopterin/kynurenine production.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No apparent differences in interleukin (IL)-4, 6, 8 and 10 were observed, whereas production of soluble IL-2-receptor and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were more pronounced in the BD group. Neopterin/kynurenine production was comparable, although both groups showed twice the levels of healthy people. No significant differences of herpes simplex virus (HSV) antibody titres were observed but higher titres against Chlamydophila pneumoniae were found in the controls. In 20 BD patients and controls neither parvovirus B19 DNA was detected nor bacterial DNA. Viral DNA of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human herpes virus (HHV)8 was detected more frequently in the BD group, whereas HSV DNA was only found in the controls, indicating that stomatitis might be caused by HSV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although no significant association of BD was detected with a single pathogen, our findings suggest that detection of HSV DNA or Chlamydiae would rather argue against classic BD. Whether there is a discriminative potential of the tested immune mediators/receptors has to be elucidated in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. eveline.schretter-irschick@i-med.ac.at
authors.forename: Eveline U
authors.initials: EU
authors.lastname: Irschick
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Philipp
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shahram
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.forename: Massih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sedigh
authors.forename: Naghmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gassner
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schennach
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larcher
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schoenitzer
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schoenbauer
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.forename: Hartwig P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Huemer
authors.forename: Fereydoun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Davatchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007378:Interleukins / Q000378:metabolism; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D007378:Interleukins; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha