Herpes viruses may play role in rheumatoid arthritis

Herpes viruses are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a report from Spanish researchers. They are unsure, however, whether the viruses play a causative role.

The impaired cellular immunity found in RA patients may simply lead to higher levels of these viruses than is seen in healthy subjects, Dr. B. Fernandez-Guitierrez and colleagues, from Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Madrid, note in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases for September. Also, the team says, RA could make patients prone to infection/reactivation with these viruses. In their study, the researchers used quantitative real-time PCR to assess the level of various herpes viruses in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and serum samples obtained from about 60 RA patients and 75 healthy controls. Analysis of the PBMC samples revealed that Ebstein-Barr virus DNA was more commonly found in RA patients than in controls and reached higher levels (p < 0.05 for both). There was a similar significant finding for human herpesvirus 6.The results suggest that there may be some value for monitoring herpes virus DNA levels in RA patients, the authors note. It would be useful to know if bumps in the viral load correlate with disease exacerbations, they add. (Source: Ann Rheum Dis 2005;64:1357-1359: Reuters Health: Oncolink: August 2005.)