Abstract
Several investigations have been undertaken with regard to the relationship between viral infection and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) . However the results are conflicting. In this study, relationship between IPF and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was investigated by examining the antibody in the sera of 47 pathologically-diagnosed IPF patients and by detecting virus DNA in the tissue of 19 specimens from 10 patients using nested polymerase chain reaction methods. Titers of EBV-VCA IgG were significantly higher in IPF patients than those in normal controls (p<0.01) . EBV-DNA was detected in 9 of 10 IPF patients. In contrast, EBV-DNA existed in only 2 of 10 normal tissues from lung cancer patients and in 1 of 7 pulmonary fibrosis tissues from collagen vascular disease patients (p<0.001) . In conclusion, EBV infection may play an important role in pathogenesis of IPF.
