Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul;26(5):739-46.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.11.007. Epub 2011 Dec 1.

Inflammation and reactivation of latent herpesviruses in older adults

Jeanette M Bennett  1 , Ronald Glaser, William B Malarkey, David Q Beversdorf, Juan Peng, Janice K Kiecolt-Glaser
Affiliations

Inflammation and reactivation of latent herpesviruses in older adults

Jeanette M Bennett et al. Brain Behav Immun. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Inflammation increases with age and is associated with many chronic diseases that are prevalent among older adults. Persistent pathogens such as latent herpesviruses and chronic bacterial infections can act as a source of inflammation. Herpesviruses, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), establish latent infections following primary infection and reactivate when the cellular immune system is compromised. EBV and CMV replication can induce proinflammatory cytokine production and thus could influence systemic inflammation. The present study addressed relationships among EBV and CMV antibody titers, and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in a sample of 222 community dwelling older adults (mean(age)=64.1±14.1 years). Participants were divided into two groups based on whether they were EBV seropositive and CMV seronegative (EBV+CMV-), or EBV and CMV seropositive (EBV+CMV+). Among individuals who were EBV+CMV-, EBV antibody titers were not associated with either CRP or IL-6 levels. However, among those who were EBV+CMV+, higher EBV antibody titers were related to elevated levels of CRP and IL-6 in those individuals with higher CMV antibody titers; there was no relationship between EBV antibody titers and CRP or IL-6 levels in those participants with lower CMV antibody titers. These data suggest that the combination of latent EBV and CMV reactivation (indexed by antibody titers) may boost CRP and IL-6 production. Thus, reactivation of multiple herpesviruses may drive inflammation and could contribute to poorer health among older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The moderating role of CMV antibody titers in the relationship between EBV antibody titers and CRP
*simple slope, b=.27, t(110)=2.02, p < .05 The regression analyses used the full range of EBV and CMV antibody titers as continuous variables. CMV antibody titers were stratified for graphical purposes using +/− 1 standard deviation from the mean. The line representing those with lower CMV antibody titers does not significantly differ from zero (simple slope, b=−.15, t(110)=−1.29, p = .20).
Figure 2
Figure 2. The moderating role of CMV antibody titers in the relationship between EBV antibody titers and IL-6
*simple slope, b=.13, t(110)=3.13, p < .05 The regression analyses used the full range of EBV and CMV antibody titers as continuous variables. CMV antibody titers were stratified for graphical purposes using +/− 1 standard deviation from the mean. The line representing those with lower CMV antibody titers does not significantly differ from zero (simple slope, b=.01, t(110)=.28, p = .78).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aiken LS, West SG. Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park: Sage; 1991. Interactions between continuous predictors in multiple regression; pp. 9–27.
    1. Almeida GD, Porada C, St Jeor S, Ascensao J. Human cytomegalovirus alters interleukin-6 production by endothelial cells. Blood. 1994;83:370–376. - PubMed
    1. Amar S, Gokce N, Morgan S, Loukideli M, Van Dyke TE, Vita JA. Periodontal Disease Is Associated With Brachial Artery Endothelial Dysfunction and Systemic Inflammation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2003;23:1245–1249. - PubMed
    1. Ariza ME, Glaser R, Kaumaya PT, Jones C, Williams MV. The EBV-encoded dUTPase activates NF-kappa B through the TLR2 and MyD88-dependent signaling pathway. J Immunol. 2009;182:851–859. - PubMed
    1. Aronson D, Avizohar O, Levy Y, Bartha P, Jacob G, Markiewicz W. Factor analysis of risk variables associated with low-grade inflammation. Atherosclerosis. 2008;200:206–212. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms