Epstein-Barr virus-specific cytotoxic T cell responses in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

The level of Epstein-Barr (EB) virus-specific cytotoxic T cell responsiveness was measured in 21 patients with active, progressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A significant number (8 out of 20) of EB virus sero-positive patients showed a markedly impaired responsiveness when compared with a control group of healthy individuals. Serological responses of the RA patients to EB virus antigens were not significantly different from the control group. The defect in EB virus-specific cellular immunity shown by these results is of interest in the light of previous evidence of an alteration in the virus-host balance in RA patients.