RHEUMATIC DISEASE PATIENTS, PRONE TO SJOGRENS-SYNDROME AND OR LYMPHOMA, MOUNT AN ANTIBODY-RESPONSE TO BHRF1, THE EPSTEIN-BARR VIRAL HOMOLOGOF BCL-2/

The IgG response to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) early antigens [BHRF1 (p1 7.1), the viral homologue of bcl-2, and BMRF1 (p50.10), a DNA binding protein] was measured in patients with rheumatic disease to see whethe r there was any association with lymphoma. Patients with rheumatoid ar thritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjogren's syndrome ( SS), rheumatic disease patients with lymphoma, patients with lymphoma who did not have a rheumatic disease and normal individuals were teste d for the presence of anti-EA peptide antibodies by ELISA. Whereas ant ibodies to early EBV peptides were detected only in one normal individ ual, patients with rheumatic diseases, especially those with either SS and/or lymphoma, had a much higher frequency of antibody detection. A ntibodies to BMRF1 p50.10 were found in 7-50% of patients, and to BHRF 1 p17.1 in 4-27%, depending on the group studied. Patients with lympho ma lacking a rheumatic disease had a 2-fold lower frequency of anti-BH RF1 antibodies, compared to the lymphoma plus rheumatic disease group. The increased immune response to the EBV EA proteins in the rheumatic diseases probably reflects the presence of reactivated virus, and the BHRF1 protein (the viral homologue to bcl-2) could, via inhibiting ap optosis, contribute to the lymphoproliferative nature of these disease s.