Detection of Epstein-Barr virus among chronic kidney disease patients in Najaf, Iraq

Many people across the world have been infected with Epstein Barr virus (EBV), a kind of a human herpes virus. Loss of kidney function happens progressively with time in those with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Individuals with CKD may be more susceptible to viral infections such as EBV due to their compromised immune systems. The purpose of this research is to quantify the frequency with which EBV infection occurs in patients with CKD in the Al-Najaf governorate. Blood samples from 50 people with CKD and 50 healthy controls were collected for the study at the Specialized Centre for Diseases and Kidney Transplant at Al-Sadder Medical City in Al-Najaf city. Nineteen of the CKD patients were men, whereas 31 were women. The age range of individuals who took part in the research varied from 17 to 47. The time frame for this study’s data gathering was from January 2022 to December 2022. Fifty hemodialysis patients gave blood samples for analysis. Researchers measured anti-EBV IgG antibodies using the ELISA method to evaluate the efficacy of humoral immunity. Eleven (22% of all samples) were found to have positive results for Epstein Barr nuclear antigen2 (EBNA2) IgG. This number was 43.1% of all males and 38.4% of all females. However, the serum concentration was found to be statistically significantly higher in the age range of 17-26 years (p0.05) than in any other age group. The RT-qPCR method was also applied to detect EBV infection in the study. Only 18 (36% of the sample) of the 50 patients had positive RT-qPCR results for EBV. This number was 15.7% of all males and 48.4% of all females; however, the positivity rate increased to 71.4% in the (17-26) age group and decreased to 28.5% in those older than 57. Results from the control group were negative for EBNA2 IgG antibodies and EBV DNA. Findings of this research demonstrate that the prevalence of EBV antibodies is considerably higher among patients undergoing hemodialysis than in the group serving as a control, regardless of age. In addition, the results of the study support the use of real-time PCR for detecting EBV among patients with CKD, due to its high sensitivity and specificity.