Dysregulated Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with CIDP

Lünemann, J.D.; Tackenberg, B.; Stein, A.; Wandinger, K.P.; Oertel, W.H.; Wagner, H.J.; Münz, C.; Meisel, H.; Sommer, N.; Zipp, F.

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2009.11.003

« Previous Next »Journal of Neuroimmunology
Volume 218, Issue 1 , Pages 107-111, 25 January 2010

Dysregulated Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with CIDP

J.D. Lünemann
- Laboratory of Viral Immunobiology, Christopher H. Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, United States
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author. Institute of Experimental Immunology, Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 44 635 3710; fax: +41 44 635 6883.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
B. Tackenberg
- Department of Neurology, Philipps-University, 35039 Marburg, Germany
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
A. Stein
- Department of Virology, Charité University Medical Center, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany
K.P. Wandinger
- Department of Neurology, Charité University Medical Center, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany
W.H. Oertel
- Department of Neurology, Philipps-University, 35039 Marburg, Germany
H.J. Wagner
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Justus-Liebig-University, 35392 Giessen, Germany
C. Münz
- Laboratory of Viral Immunobiology, Christopher H. Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, United States
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
H. Meisel
- Department of Virology, Charité University Medical Center, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany
N. Sommer
- Dept. of Neurology, Klinikum Christophsbad, 73008 Göppingen, Germany
F. Zipp
- Cecilie-Vogt-Clinic for Molecular Neurology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Received 7 September 2009; received in revised form 4 November 2009; accepted 6 November 2009. published online 26 November 2009.

Abstract

Ubiquitous viruses have frequently been proposed as a cause or trigger of chronic immune-mediated diseases. Infections are reported to be temporally associated with clinical exacerbations in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). We examined immunological parameters of herpesvirus infections in untreated patients with CIDP compared to demographically matched controls. Patients with CIDP were uniformly seropositive for EBV-specific IgG and the disease was associated with a moderately enhanced IgG reactivity to EBV-encoded antigens expressed during both B cell transformation and productive viral replication. Moreover, cellular EBV copy numbers were 3-fold increased in patients with CIDP. In contrast, humoral immune responses to other herpesviruses (HCMV, HSV) as well as virus-specific IgM responses were unchanged in CIDP. These data indicate that host–pathogen interactions during chronic EBV infection are dysregulated in treatment-naïve patients with CIDP.

Keywords: CIDP, Autoimmunity, Infection, EBV, Herpesvirus