Implication for the detection of the joint lesion associated factors and Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

To analyze the implication for the detection of the joint lesion associated factors and Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA) so as to explore the relationship between pathogenesis of RA and EBV infection,the expression levels of anti-EBV antibodies and anti-collagen Ⅱ(CⅡ) antibodies,joint lesion associated factor MMP-3 and TIMP-1 were detected by high sensitive ELISA,while clonal expansion of RA self-reactive T cells induced by synthesized EBV peptides was analyzed by 3H-TdR incorporation analysis.The experimental results showed that the anti-collagen Ⅱ antibodies were found both in serum and synovial fluid(SF) of RA patients,while in SF,the level of IgG antibodies in RA patients was significantly higher than that in the OA control of patients(P0.01).The levels of joint lesion associated factors MMP-3 and TIMP-1 in SP of RA patients were both higher than those in serum of RA patients(P0.001),but in comparison with the serum group,the MMP-3/TIMP-1 ratio in the SF group showed significant difference(P0.001).Moreover,the anti-EBV gp110 antibodies were detected in most of RA SF and peripheral blood of RA patients,other anti-EBV antibodies.Such as EBV-VCA IgM,EBV-EBNA-1 IgG,EBV-VCA IgG,and anti-EBV-EBNA-1 IgG were also detected.The self reactive T cells from RA patients were found to have marked auto-reactivity to synthesized EBV gp110 peptide.From these experimental results,it is concluded that the EBV infection has some relationship with abnormal clonal expasion of T/B cells in RA patients,especially the abnormal high levels of MMP-3,TIMP-1 and anti-CⅡ antibodies.Possibly,these abnormality may be caused by the mechanism of moleculat mimicry,the self-reactive cells in RA patients may cross-react with EBV and self peptides during the course of viral infection,and then lead to the self-tissue destruction and finally cause activation and development of RA.Our experimental results suggest that anti-virus therapy and immunoregulation may be one of the new idea for the prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.