The role of Epstein-Barr virus in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a devastating autoimmune disease with no known cure. Lupus patients suffer from a myriad of clinical symptoms which variably include arthritis, pleuritis, pericarditis, vasculitis, and nephritis. The underlying mechanisms behind these clinical findings and the etiologic events preceding and causing disease onset, however, remain largely unknown. For many years, investigators have suspected that Epstein-Barr virus might somehow be involved in the etiology and/or pathogenesis of systemic lupus. Numerous studies have examined this possibility from various angles and have arrived at different conclusions. This work reviews these historical papers in the context of new results and presents a hypothetical role for this virus as an etiological environmental trigger for SLE.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic
- Humans
- Herpesvirus 4, Human
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Antibodies, Viral
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
- 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic
- Humans
- Herpesvirus 4, Human
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Antibodies, Viral
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
- 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology