SynthesisArthritis research & therapy2015
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the sero-epidemiological association between Epstein-Barr virus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Synthesis in Arthritis research & therapy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Prevalence and Incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Events Are Elevated Prior to the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis in First-Degree Relatives.Frontiers in immunology · 2018Trial
- Anti-citrullinated protein antibody response after primary EBV infection in kidney transplant patients.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Impact of oncogenic viruses on autoimmune diseases and tumorigenesis.Infectious agents and cancer · 2026Review
- Web of Science-Based Visualization of Mapping Global Scientific Production on Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Autoimmune Diseases: A Bibliometric Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Risk of inflammatory bowel disease following hospitalisation with infectious mononucleosis: nationwide cohort study from Denmark.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Article
- BCR signaling is required for posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease in immunodeficient mice receiving human B cells.Science translational medicine · 2024Article
- Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis Development.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2023Review
- Uncovering the Role of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection Markers for Remission in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Markers of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in Association with the Onset and Poor Control of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Prospective Cohort Study.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Review
- From bedside to bench: how existing therapies inform the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis.Clinical & translational immunology · 2023Review
- Antibody Responses to Epstein-Barr Virus in the Preclinical Period of Rheumatoid Arthritis Suggest the Presence of Increased Viral Reactivation Cycles.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Epstein-Barr Virus in Salivary Samples from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients with Oral Lesions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Cytometric analysis of T cell phenotype using cytokine profiling for improved manufacturing of an EBV-specific T cell therapy.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2021Article
- Altered Antibody Response to Epstein-Barr Virus in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis and Healthy Subjects Predisposed to the Disease. A Twin Study.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Article
- Etiology and Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A State-of-the-Art Review.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Review
- Risk Factors for Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients With Undifferentiated Arthritis and Inflammatory Arthralgia.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionInfection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We sought to determine whether prior infection with the virus occurs more frequently in patients with RA compared to controls.
methodsWe performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of studies that reported the prevalence of anti-EBV antibodies in the sera of cases with RA and controls by searching Medline and Embase databases from 1946 to 2014, with no language restriction. Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios for the detection of anti-EBV antibodies were calculated, and meta-analyses conducted. Quality assessments were performed using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
resultsTwenty-three studies were included. Quality assessment found most studies reported acceptable selection criteria but poor descriptions of how cases and controls were recruited. When all studies were included, there was a statistically significant higher seroprevalence of anti-VCA IgG in patients with RA compared to controls with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.61 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.05-2.46, p = 0.03), which is a similar-sized summary OR to that reported for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, when studies were restricted to those reporting more plausible levels of exposure to EBV in the control groups, no significant association was apparent, OR 1.47 (95 % CI 0.88-2.46, p = 0.14). Using anti-EBNA 1 or anti-EA IgG as markers of previous infection also did not yield significant associations (OR 1.05, 95 % CI 0.68-1.61, p = 0.82; OR 2.2, 95 % CI 0.86-5.65, p = 0.10 respectively).
conclusionsOverall, these findings do not demonstrate an association between EBV seroprevalence and RA and therefore do not support the hypothesis that prior infection with EBV predisposes to the development of RA. This contrasts with meta-analyses that indicate EBV infection is associated with multiple sclerosis and SLE.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.