Sero-immunological Diagnosis of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human virus that is commonly found around the world. In recent years, it has been a topic of great discussion in relation to an increased risk of autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes. The purpose of this study was to find out the seroprevalence of EBV in diabetic and healthy people by quantifying some immunological markers of the study subjects.
Materials and Methods: A total of 90 people were chosen (of whom 30 were non-diabetic and 60 were diabetic) and blood samples were taken. Immunological markers were measured by quantitative ELISA kits and EBV IgG antibody was detected by qualitative ELISA test.
Results: Immunological markers were quantified by quantitative ELISA. The prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in this study was 58.89% (53/90) of which 53.33% (16/30) of healthy individuals were positive and 61.67% (37/60) of type 2 diabetic patients were positive. In the infected group the positivity rate was 0.425 ± 0.019; however, significantly higher positivity rate was found in type 2 diabetic individuals than healthy individuals. As far as immunological markers are concerned, a significant rise in interleukin-1 level was noted in the type 2 diabetic patients infected with EBV (viral infection) and also in healthy people infected with EBV as compared to healthy people who were not infected and type 2 diabetic patients who were not infected with EBV. Regarding interleukin-6, no statistically significant difference was found between healthy individuals infected by EBV and type 2 diabetic patients without EBV as well as between those infected and type 2 diabetic patients infected with EBV, but all these values were higher than those of healthy patients without EBV. A significant increase in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels was observed in type 2 diabetes patients infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-T2DM)