[What is the role of Epstein-Barr virus in the pathogenesis of connective tissue diseases?].

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) abnormalities of T suppressive/cytotoxic responses to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have been reported: lack of inhibition of spontaneous proliferation of autologous B lymphocytes infected by EBV, lack of late suppression of immunoglobulin secretion induced in vitro by EBV. Moreover, a cross-reaction between EBNA antigen (Epstein Barr Nuclear Antigen) and a cytoplasmic protein of 62 KD present in the rheumatoid synovitis has been described. In primary Sjögren's syndrome, EBV genome has been observed in the parotid of some patients. The abnormalities of T suppressive/cytotoxic responses observed in rheumatoid arthritis are inconstant and non specific; they are noted in some cases of systemic scleroderma and lupus; they remain for a given patient and could be the marker of a particular subset of connective tissue diseases. The pathophysiological role of EBV infection, especially in rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome, remains to be determined.