The role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) in immune thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Background

Although Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) are known to trigger immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), the manifestations of EBV and CMV in ITP spleen tissues continue to be poorly understood.

Methods

Our research retrospectively reviewed a total of 42 ITP patients and 20 healthy control cases from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2008 to 2012. Patients' characteristics, preoperative platelet counts, and the expression of EBV and CMV in spleen tissue were analyzed.

Results

No statistically significant differences were identified for age and gender between the ITP group and the healthy control group. The comparison of these two categories (the ITP group and the control group) showed substantial variations in the expression of EBV and CMV: nine (21.4%) and eight (19%) ITP patients had a positive expression of EBV and CMV, compared with none and one patient in the control group, respectively. In the EBV-ITP group, patients with a positive EBV expression revealed appreciably decreased preoperative platelet count compared with patients with a negative EBV expression. No other statistically significant difference was found in the CMV group.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated the presence of both EBV and CMV infections in the spleen tissue of ITP patients. EBV infections were implicated in the reduced platelet counts in ITP.

Keywords:

• Immune thrombocytopenia
• Epstein-Barr virus
• Cytomegalovirus
• Immunohistochemistry

Acknowledgements

This study was approved by the West China Hospital, Sichuan University.

Zhong Wu and Jin Zhou contributed equally to this work.