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Research Paper|Volume 14, Issue 20|pp 8258—8269

Association between Epstein-Barr virus serological reactivation and psychological distress: a cross-sectional study of Japanese community-dwelling older adults

Hirotomo Yamanashi1,2, Shogo Akabame1,2, Jun Miyata3, Yukiko Honda4, Fumiaki Nonaka4, Yuji Shimizu4, Seiko Nakamichi1, Shin-Ya Kawashiri4,5, Mami Tamai5, Kazuhiko Arima6, Atsushi Kawakami5, Kiyoshi Aoyagi6, Takahiro Maeda1,3
  • 1Department of General Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 2Department of Clinical Medicine, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 3Department of Island and Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 4Department of Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 5Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 6Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
Received: May 30, 2022Accepted: October 13, 2022Published: October 21, 2022
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204345

Copyright: © 2022 Yamanashi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with the etiopathogenesis of a broad spectrum of diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association between psychological distress and EBV serological reactivation among community-dwelling older people and assess the role of sex differences in this association. This population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among individuals who underwent annual health checkups (N = 2,821; median age 72.4 years). EBV serological reactivation was defined as elevation of EBV early antigen immunoglobulin G titers, and psychological distress was defined as Kessler 6 scores ≥5. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for EBV serological reactivation and psychological distress. EBV serological reactivation and psychological distress were detected in 16.4% and 8.7% of participants, respectively. Women accounted for 71% (328/463) of those with EBV serological reactivation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed psychological distress was not significantly associated with EBV serological reactivation among all participants (OR 1.31, 95% CI: 0.95, 1.82; P = 0.102). A sex-stratified multivariable analysis showed a positive association among women (OR 1.45, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.08; P = 0.043), but no association among men. EBV serological reactivation was independently associated with psychological distress in community-dwelling older women. The sex difference in our results warrants further investigation to clarify the physiological mechanisms underlying the association.