Expression of EB virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in children with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Objective To discuss the role of EB virus(EBV)in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) in children through investigating the copies of EBV DNA and expression of EBV genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs). Methods (1)PBMCs were isolated from 30 patients with SLE and 12 healthy normal controls respectively and DNA was extracted from PBMCs.(2) PBMCs were co-cultured with EBV for 12 days and RNA was extracted from PBMCs.(3)Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(Real-time PCR) was applied to detect the copies of EBV DNA in PBMCs.(4)Reverse transcription PCR was applied to detect expression of EBV genes. Results (1) Compared with the healthy control group[(40.1±11.6) copies/μg], a significant increase of EBV DNA copies was observed in SLE group[(658.6±183.6) copies/μg](P 0.05). (3)After PBMCs got co-cultured with EBV, expression of latent EBV genes and lytic genes were both increased in the patients and healthy controls.The latent EBV genes including latent membrane protein 1(LMP1), LMP2, EBV nuclear antigen 1 and the lytic genes including BCRF1, BLLF1 were all increased significantly in the patients compared with the healthy controls(all P<0.05). Conclusions There is a significant increase of EBV DNA copies and aberrant expression of EBV genes in SLE patients, which suggests that EBV may contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE. Key words: Child; Lupus erythematosus, systemic; EB virus; Gene expression