Seroprevalance and the eiopathogenetic role of parvovirüs B19 in fibromyalgia syndrome

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FS) is a chronic musculoskeletal disorder of unknown etiology, characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and exquisite tenderness at specific anatomic sites. Although the etiopathogenesis of FS is not completely understood, there are some hypotesis consisting genetic factors in combination with abnormal peripheral and central mechanisms. The aim of our study was to determine the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 (B19) antibodies in patients with FS to assess the association between B19 infection and FS. Serum samples of seventy five patients (mean age 44.3±3.8) with FS and seventy five age and sex matched controls (mean age 44.2+8.1) were studied. Serum IgM and IgG anti- B19 antibodies were measured by ELISA. We administered the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and visual analog scale (VAS) to evaluate physical function and symptom severity. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of acute B19 infection in both groups. 81.3% of patients (n=61) and 64% of the control group (n=48) had positive anti-B19 IgG antibodies. The seropositivity of the patients was significantly higher than the control group (p=0.027). No statistically significant difference were found regarding to the clinical features, FIQ scores and VAS values between anti B19 IgG positive and negative patients. Despite a statistically significant proportion of our patients had positive B19 IgG antibodies, further studies are needed to clarify the role of B19 infection as a triggering factor in the etiopathogenesis of FS. Key words : Fibromyalgia syndrome, parvovirus B19, etiopathogenesis, viral infections