title: Epstein-Barr virus and its association with rheumatoid arthritis and oral lichen planus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases (AD) is one of a multifactorial milieu. A genetic predisposition, an immune system failure, hormonal imbalance and environmental factors play important roles. Among the many environmental factors, the role of infection is gaining importance in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune disorders; among them, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays a pivotal role. Literature states an association of various AD with EBV namely multiple sclerosis, autoimmune thyroiditis, systemic lupus erythematous, oral lichen planus (OLP), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), autoimmune hepatitis, Sjögren's syndrome and Kawasaki disease; among these, the most commonly occurring are OLP and RA.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Considering the frequency of occurrences, our aim was to perform a qualitative analysis of EBV viral capsid antigen (EBV VCA) IgG in the sera of patients with RA, OLP and establish a comparison with normal.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-vitro experiment in a research laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five-milliliter blood sample was collected from 25 patients diagnosed with RA and OLP. Serum was separated and EBV VCA IgG antibody titer was detected using NovaTec EBV VCA IgG ELISA kit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chi-square test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six out of 25 subjects with RA and 4 out of 25 subjects with OLP tested positive for EBV VCA IgG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both environmental and genetic factors are important contributory components for autoimmune conditions. Screening for viral etiology would improve the efficacy of conventional treatment and reduce the risk of relapses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adtani
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Narasimhan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malathi
keywords: ELISA; Epstein–Barr virus; oral lichen planus; rheumatoid arthritis