Analysis of clinical characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis patients with increased copy number of Epstein-Barr virus DNA
WANG Hong-quan
ZHAN Jie
Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA)who have an increased copy number of Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)DNA in whole blood.Methods The clinical data of 155 patients with rheumatoid arthritis hospitalized in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the People's Hospital of Jingmen City from April 2016 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed,including general condition,clinical manifestations,28 joint disease activity score(DAS28)characteristics,laboratory and imaging examinations and treatment.The patients were divided into the group with increase in EBV-DNA copy number(44 cases)and the group with no increase in EBV-DNA copy number(111 cases)according to the presence or absence of the increase in EBV-DNA copy number to make comparison.Results The incidence rate of increased copy number of EBV-DNA was 28.4％(44/155).DAS28 and RF titers and anti-RA33 antibody titers were significantly higher in the group with increase in copy number of EBV-DNA than in the group with no increase in copy number of EBV-DNA(P＜0.05).Patients in the group with increase in copy number of EBV-DNA were prone to interstitial lung disease(ILD),and the proportion of patients with interstitial lung disease was higher in this group than in the group without increase in copy number of EBV-DNA[5 cases(11.4％)vs.1 case(0.9％),P=0.007].About 29.5％(13/44)patients were given tofacitinib citrate tablets,and compared with the group without increase in EBV-DNA copy number[8 cases(7.2％)],the difference was statistically significant(x2=13.424,P＜0.001).Conclusion Increased copy number of EBV-DNA is more common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,and the patients with increased copy number of EBV-DNA are prone to interstitial lung disease.These patients have significantly higher DAS28 and RF titers,higher anti-RA33 antibody titers,and high disease activity.The treatment with targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs(tsDMARDs)may have better effects.
Keywords：rheumatoid arthritisEpstein-Barr virusinterstitial lung disease28 joint disease activity scorerheumatoid factoranti-RA33 antibody
Publication Date：2025-09-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-10-21(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 768-773,780 )