Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with cryptococcosis.

Antibody levels to the Epstein-Barr virus, the etiological agent for heterophile-positive infectious mononucleosis, have been demonstrated in high titer in a number of lymphomas as well as infectious mononucleosis. Recent reports have suggested that the elevated antibody levels to Epstein-Barr virus may be the nonspecific result of disordered cell-mediated immunity. This study of patients with cryptococcosis was therefore undertaken to examine another disorder of known etiology associated with a defect in cell-mediated immunity. In this study we found that antibody levels in cryptococcosis patients, including a group specifically demonstrated to be anergic to a series of skin test antigens, were no different than those in matched normal controls. At the present time, therefore, it is unlikely that elevated antibody levels can be explained solely on the basis of depressed cellular immunity.