Antibodies to Epstein-Barr Virus and Some other Herpesviruses in Patients with Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Erythema Nodosum

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Abstract
Sera from 120 patients with sarcoidosis, 21 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and 25 patients with non-sarcoid erythema nodosum were examined for antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) by means of immunofluorescence (IF) and immunodiffusion (ID) techniques. 120+25 sera from healthy donors matched for age and sex with the sarcoidosis and erythema nodosum patients were also examined. Complement-fixing (CF) antibodies to herpes simplex (HSV), varicella-zoster (VZV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) were also studied. EBV IF antibodies were found in 97.5% of both sarcoidosis and matched control sera. Patients with sarcoidosis had high EBV IF titers (≥640) and strong ID reactions (grade 2 to 3) significantly more often than the matched controls. Antibody titers to HSV and VZV, but not to CMV, were also higher among the patients with sarcoidosis than in the controls. Levels of EBV IF and ID antibodies were higher in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis than in the controls, but those of other herpesvirus antibodies were not. The patients with non-sarcoid erythema nodosum had about the same antibody titers to all herpesviruses as the controls. Although most patients with sarcoidosis have higher EBV IF and ID antibody titers than healthy controls, the etiologic role of EBV to sarcoidosis seems improbable.