<b>EBV</b><b> </b><b>Infection</b><b> </b><b>as</b><b> </b><b>a</b><b> </b><b>Risk</b><b> </b><b>Factor</b><b> </b><b>for</b><b> </b><b>SLE</b><b> </b><b>Development</b><b> </b><b>in</b><b> </b><b>Adult</b><b> </b><b>Sudanese</b><b> </b><b>Patients</b> study questionnaire dataset

Background: To evaluate EBV (Epstein Barr VirusEpstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection as a risk factor for the development of SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosussystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Sudanese patients. This iswas a case controlcase‒control study. Forty-two SLE patients and forty-one age- and sex -matched controls were included. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected. Venous blood samples were drawn, and EBV- viral capsid antigen (EBV-VCA) IgGsIgG titreer levels were quantitively measured. quantified. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were compared between the two groups by either Student’s t- test or Man- Whitneythe Mann‒Whitney U test for continuous data, or by χ² analysis for categorical data. P values &lt; 0.05 were considered statistically significantto indicate statistical significance. Results: The SLE patients’ group hadpatients in the present study had a low mean Hb levelsconcentration (11.5 ± 1.7gm7 gm/dL) and a low RBCsRBC count (4.1 ± 0.73). Almost all patients (41, 97.6%) and controlcontrols (40, 97.6%) groups were positive for the VCA-IgG, (P=0.99). The titreer levels of the VCA-IgG between the two groups were similar (153.8± 58.2 RU/ml for patients, 156.6± 64.1 RU/ml for control groups,; p = 0.83). The mean EBV-VCA-IgG levels were similar inbetween the positive and negative anti-dsDNA patients, with a p value of 0.98. The mean VCA-IgG titreer means werewas also similar between anti-Sm -positive and anti-Sm-negative patients, (p= 0.22). Conclusions: No association was found between EBV infection and SLE development in adult Sudanese patients. LargerA larger sample size and younger population isare recommended to elucidate any association associations between EBV and SLE.