Department of Immunology, Transplantology and Internal Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Lupus. 2021 Jul;30(8):1214-1225. doi: 10.1177/09612033211010339. Epub 2021 Apr 17.
For long Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to verify the association between EBV, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and kidney disease in SLE.
Blood samples were obtained from 43 SLE patients and 50 healthy individuals. EBV load was measured via real-time PCR assay. Sizing and quantification of plasma cfDNA was performed on Bioanalyzer. We proposed that the uniformity of cfDNA fragmentation can be described using cfDNA fragmentation index.
SLE patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD +) had higher EBV load compared to CKD(-) patients (P = 0.042). Patients with high cfDNA level had higher EBV load (P = 0.041) and higher cfDNA fragmentation index (P < 0.001) compared to patients with low cfDNA level. Among patients with high cfDNA level, EBV load was higher in CKD(+) group compared to CKD(-) group (P = 0.035). EBV load was positively correlated with the fragmentation index in all SLE patients (P = 0.028, R = 0.13), and the correlation was even more pronounced in CKD (+) patients (P < 0.001, R = 0.20).
We showed that EBV load was associated with non-uniform cfDNA fragmentation, higher cfDNA levels, and kidney disease in SLE patients. Although the causality of this relationship could not be determined with the current study, it brings rationale for further investigations on the role of EBV and cfDNA interplay in SLE pathogenesis.
长期以来，人们一直怀疑 Epstein-Barr 病毒（EBV）与系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的发病机制有关。本研究旨在验证 EBV、游离细胞 DNA（cfDNA）与 SLE 患者肾脏疾病之间的关联。
采集 43 例 SLE 患者和 50 例健康个体的血液样本。通过实时 PCR 检测 EBV 载量。采用 Bioanalyzer 对血浆 cfDNA 的大小和定量进行分析。我们提出可以用 cfDNA 片段化指数来描述 cfDNA 片段化的均匀性。
与 CKD（-）患者相比，慢性肾脏病（CKD+）患者的 EBV 载量更高（P=0.042）。与 cfDNA 低水平患者相比，cfDNA 高水平患者的 EBV 载量（P=0.041）和 cfDNA 片段化指数（P<0.001）更高。在 cfDNA 高水平患者中，CKD（+）组的 EBV 载量高于 CKD（-）组（P=0.035）。在所有 SLE 患者中，EBV 载量与片段化指数呈正相关（P=0.028，R=0.13），在 CKD（+）患者中相关性更明显（P<0.001，R=0.20）。
我们表明，EBV 载量与非均匀 cfDNA 片段化、更高的 cfDNA 水平和 SLE 患者的肾脏疾病有关。尽管本研究不能确定这种关系的因果关系，但它为进一步研究 EBV 和 cfDNA 相互作用在 SLE 发病机制中的作用提供了依据。
