The role of viral etiology in rheumatic diseases: ankylosing spondylitis and behcets syndrome

Studies about the role of viral agents in the pathogenesis of inflammatory rheumatismal diseases, of which autoimmune mechanisms are being held responsible for the etiology, keep their popularity nowadays. Considerably important signs prove that viruses can be the significant environmental factors in the pathogenesis of the rheumatismal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the viruses belonging to the family of Human Herpes Viruses such as Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 (HSV-1), Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2), Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Human Herpes Virus-6 (HHV-6), and Human Parvovirus B19 in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and Behcet?s syndrome (BS) which are rheumatismal diseases. Between October 2005 and June 2007, 83 AS and 50 BS patients who were newly diagnosed at the Rheumatology Clinic of Gaziantep University Medical Faculty Şahinbey Hospital were included into the study. Fifty individuals, who admitted to Sahinbey Hospital Rheumatology Clinic within the same period of time, were selected as the control group. In the sera of the patients and controls the presence of antibodies against the viruses HSV-1, HSV-2, EBV, CMV, HHV- 6, and Parvovirus B19 was examined by micro- ELISA method. The results of the patients were compared with that of the control group. From the aspect of the positivity of antibodies, there was no statistically significant difference between the group of the patients and the control group (p>0.05). The positivity of antibody from each viral agent was found more in AS patients than in BS patients, however this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Acording to the results of this study, the consumption that HSV-1, HSV-2, EBV, CMV, HHV-6 and Parvovirus B19 have role in the etiology of AS and BS has not been supported.