Detection of Epstein-Barr virus in synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients.
BACKGROUND
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory disorders. Genes and environmental factors contribute to RA. Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) has been considered as one the RA pathogeneses. The aim of this study was to detect of the EBV genome in patients with RA.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 50 samples of synovial fluid were obtained from patients with RA from 2010-2012. Using a standard of the EBV genome and EBNA-1-specific primers, the method of PCR was set up. Then, all of the samples of synovial fluids separately were subjected to DNA extraction and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. The statistical analysis was performed by the t-test.


RESULTS
The demographic and laboratory characteristic assay revealed that the mean age of patients was 49, and the patients were 60% males and 40% females. In addition, in all cases, the mean rheumatoid factor (RF) levels of the patients were below the normal level. The results of this study showed that the PCR was able to detect EBV DNA in > 60% of the cases.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicated that EBV was frequently detected in the synovial fluid of RA patients. Thus, EBV may be a strong candidate that can act at several levels of the pathophysiology of RA. However, these findings also indicated that EBV may play a role in the pathogenesis of RA. However, the possible relationship between RA and EBV must be determined by further research.
Ph.D. of Medical Virology, Assistant Professor, Department of Virology and Bacteriology, Faculty of Medicine Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mostafa
M
Mahabadi
Ph.D. of Medical Virology, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ebrahim
E
Faghihiloo
M.D. Rheumatology, Clinical Development Medical Center of Baqiyatallah Hospital, and Department of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Bagiyatalah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Gholam Hossein
GH
Alishiri
M.Sc. Molecular and Cellular Biology, Researcher, Research Center of Applied Microbiology, Bagiyatalah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohamad Hossein
MH
Ataee
Ph.D. of Medical Microbiology, Professor, Department of Virology and Bacteriology, and Clinical Development Medical Center of Baqiyatallah Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ramezan Ali
RA
Ataee
EBNA-1; EBV; PCR; rheumatoid arthritis