Antibody to herpes-like virus in sarcoidosis

Anti-hepes-like virus antibody titers in samples of serum drawn from 70 consecutive patients at the time of diagnosis of sarcoidosis were compared with those found in control subjects without sarcoidosis or granulomatous disease, matched for age, sex, and race. Antibody was detected in all 70 sarcoid and control sera; in general, titers were higher for the sarcoid patient than for the matched control subject, but the difference in the geometric mean titer was only 0.5 of a twofold dilution step. Only 21 (30 per cent) of the sarcoid and 8 (11 per cent) of the control sera had titers greater than or equal to 1:600. The difference in the geometric mean titer between patient and control subject did not vary significantly with sex, race, or type of sarcoidosis. A second sample of serum was drawn from 45 of the 70 sarcoid patients after an interval varying from 18 to 60 months. Among these 45 patients the titers were virtually unchanged: 39 (87 per cent) had the same titer on the second occasion, 4 were higher by one dilution, and 2 were lower by one dilution. There was no correlation between the titer of the initial sample of serum and the progression, regression, or attainment of inactivity of the sarcoidosis. From this study we conclude that the elevated anti-herpes-like virus antibody titer found in patients with sarcoidosis are most likely to be related to the ability of these patients to show enhanced humoral antibody responses.