title: Identification of EBV infection in adults with egg specific food allergy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food allergy has been reported increasingly around the world during the past several decades. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a common herpesvirus with high infection rate, is now suspected to be a risk or protective factor in food allergy. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible role of EBV infection in IgE-mediated food allergy.
  
  
  METHODS
  34 patients with an egg allergy and 34 healthy controls participated in this study. Egg allergy was confirmed by open-food challenge. Serum anti-viral capsid antigen (VCA), anti-Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1) IgG and egg specific (yolk and white)-IgE levels were evaluated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). At the same time, EBV DNA as well as viral miRNAs in these samples was quantified by real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that serum anti EBNA-1 IgG and two viral miRNAs (miR-BART1-5p and miR-BART7) were highly expressed in patients with egg allergy compared with healthy controls (p < 0.05, < 0.001 and < 0.01, respectively). Moreover, the expressions of anti EBNA-1 specific IgG, miR-BART1-5p and miR-BART7 positively correlated with the level of egg-specific IgE (p < 0.05, < 0.01 and < 0.01, respectively). The differences in anti VCA IgG concentration and EBV DNA copy number between the allergy patients and control individuals were not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high expression of EBV-specific antibody and miRNAs indicated that EBV infection might play a promoting role in IgE-mediated egg food allergy, and viral miRNAs-related immunomodulatory pathway was likely involved in this allergy process.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health, NO,1 Dahua Road, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Zhiyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lunan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood; D010063:Ovum / Q000276:immunology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D035683:MicroRNAs; D007073:Immunoglobulin E