Oropharyngeal Epstein-Barr virus excretion in rheumatoid arthritis

We hypothesized that the defective cellular regulation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) might be reflected in an increased rate of oropharyngeal virus excretion, but we found that the prevalence of excretion in 45 RA patients (22%) did not differ from 45 age- and sex-matched non-RA patients (24%) who were taking similar medications. Increased excretion rates correlated with corticosteroid therapy and male sex, but not with age or serum levels of EBV antibodies.