Role of EBV in autoimmune thyroid diseases

[Tammy]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25931043

 

[Gingergrrl]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25931043

Interesting and I had severe Mono/EBV in early 2012 (which started my entire illness) and by the end of 2013 I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's.

 

[Tammy]

Interesting and I had severe Mono/EBV in early 2012 (which started my entire illness) and by the end of 2013 I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's.

My daughter also had severe Mono/EBV and the next year was diagnosed with Graves disease.

 

[Gingergrrl]

My daughter also had severe Mono/EBV and the next year was diagnosed with Graves disease.

Tammy, did your daughter's doctor think the two were related (her Mono/EBV and Graves)? When I was diagnosed with Hashi's, I was told that it was the "gateway" toward getting multiple autoimmune conditions and nothing could have been more true in my case. All of my doctors feel that the EBV shifted into severe autoimmunity (in my case).

 

[Tammy]

Tammy, did your daughter's doctor think the two were related (her Mono/EBV and Graves)? When I was diagnosed with Hashi's, I was told that it was the "gateway" toward getting multiple autoimmune conditions and nothing could have been more true in my case. All of my doctors feel that the EBV shifted into severe autoimmunity (in my case).[/QUOTE

No he didn't link the two. I think the EBV can attack just about anything from organs to glands. Some people get spleenomegaly or hepatomegaly from EBV. My daughter's liver was attacked as her liver enzymes were high. When I think back on it, she started having symptoms of Graves long before she was diagnosed. I don't think it is far fetched to think that the EBV can attack the thyroid................but i doubt many Dr.'s make that link.

 

[drob31]

So let's say EBV reactivates during a stressful period and migrates to your thyroid, as it was next door in your tonsils which is a common place for it to infect. In this state it's able to "hide out" in thyroid tissue while your body desperately trys to attack it, eventually producing antibodies to it's own tissue to get after it.

Does this sound like a plausible hashimotos and or AIT model?

 

[Gingergrrl]

So let's say EBV reactivates during a stressful period and migrates to your thyroid, as it was next door in your tonsils which is a common place for it to infect. In this state it's able to "hide out" in thyroid tissue while your body desperately trys to attack it, eventually producing antibodies to it's own tissue to get after it.

Does this sound like a plausible hashimotos and or AIT model?

This actually makes really sound sense to me that EBV (or other viruses) could migrate and infect the thyroid (either with the initial infection or a re-activation) and then hide out. The body would keep trying to attack the virus until it eventually shifts toward Hashimoto's (and starts attacking the thyroid) which then becomes the gateway to other autoimmune diseases. Forgive my ignorance but is what you proposed a theory or is it actually what is proven to occur?

 

[Wally]

This paper was just released online (3/12/2020) re Hashimoto’s and EBV.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221462372030017X

Study of Epstein–Barr virus serological profile in Egyptian patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: A case-control study

Abstract

Background

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is now considered one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of different types of EBV antibodies in patients with HT in comparison to healthy controls, and to detect any correlation between EBV serological markers and different laboratory findings in HT patients.
Subjects & methods

This case-control study was conducted on 120 subjects divided into two groups: Sixty patients with HT (patients group), and sixty age and sex matched healthy volunteers (control group). All the participants were subjected to: Thyroid ultrasound, laboratory assessment including: Serum thyroid -stimulating hormone (TSH), free tetraiodothyronine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO Ab) and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (anti-TG Ab). Four types of EBV antibodies (VCA IgM, VCA IgG, EA IgG, and EBNA-1IgG) were measured in serum using ELISA.
Results

The mean serum levels of EBV VCA IgG and EA IgG were significantly higher in HT patients group in comparison to control group. In euthyroid HT patients, a significant positive correlation was observed between the age and EBV EA IgG. While in hypothyroid HT patients, a significant positive correlation between thyroid isthmus and EBNA-1IgG was observed. A significant negative correlation was found between the serum FT3 and EBNA-1IgG and a significant positive correlation was observed between serum TSH and EBV VCA IgG.
Conclusions
The high serum levels of EBV VCA IgG and EBV EA IgG in patients with HT suggest a possible association between EBV and HT.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221462372030017X

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221462372030017X

 

[Gingergrrl]

This paper was just released online (3/12/2020) re Hashimoto’s and EBV.

Wally that article is brilliant and I am going to show it to my endocrinologist who treats my Hashimoto's Disease. I don't think the link to EBV would change anything re: my treatment but I am so curious to hear his opinion.

 

[Wally]

@Gingergrrl - I try to keep up on all thyroid research etc... because of thyroid issues followed shortly after my visit to Incline Village where I contracted a strange flu like illness. For me EBV, HHV-6, ME/CFS, and thyroid disease have always seemed to define my illness, it was just difficult to find doctors who understood that there could be a connection between the thyroid and a large subset of people with this illness.

A couple of other studies that might be helpful for you to review, if you have not seen these already, 1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23055929/ (see also - https://hhv-6foundation.org/all/active-hhv-6-found-in-the-autoimmune-thyroiditis-biopsies) and 2) https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/fo...-causes-problems-for-many-with-hypothyroidism.

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

EBV is the gift that keeps on giving...

 

[sometexan84]

I was diagnosed w/ Hashimoto and Hypothyroidism less than a yr ago. A few months later, tested positive for EBV reactivation.

 

[sometexan84]

In fact, those are 2 of only 3 conditions I've discovered thus far w/ my tests:

1. Hashimoto - Hypothyroidism
2. EBV
3. Psoriasis

 

[Learner1]

And...

 

[sometexan84]

@Learner1

It is also possible that every time the control of EBV diminishes, EBV reactivates and reinfects more cells of different types in different locations of the body, resulting in specific manifestations and progression of disease flares

So, would that help explain why I have 80% energy much of the time, and then periods where I am dead for days at a time?

 

[Learner1]

Could be.

You might find the attached interesting.

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

If it is only your thyroid being affected you are lucky. Others are not be so lucky. Some of the conditions linked to EBV include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and celiac disease.

 

[max_yazhbin]

Which enzymes were high, my ALT is high, but my AST is within range yet correlated with the ALT. When ALT is high, AST is in the high range, when ALT is in the high range, AST is mid range. What symptoms of Graves did she have and how's they confirm it? How did they know she had EBV?

 

[Learner1]

If it is only your thyroid being affected you are lucky. Others are not be so lucky. Some of the conditions linked to EBV include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and celiac disease.

And cancer.

 

[Learner1]

Which enzymes were high, my ALT is high, but my AST is within range yet correlated with the ALT. When ALT is high, AST is in the high range, when ALT is in the high range, AST is mid range. What symptoms of Graves did she have and how's they confirm it? How did they know she had EBV?

There are a lot of things that can cause elevated ALT, AST or both.