Evidence of genetic susceptibility to infectious mononucleosis: a twin study

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection 2012-11, Vol.140 (11), p.2089-2095
• Main Authors: HWANG, A. E., HAMILTON, A. S., COCKBURN, M. G., AMBINDER, R., ZADNICK, J., BROWN, E. E., MACK, T. M., COZEN, W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Biological and medical sciences; California; College graduates; Disease; Education; Epidemiology; Epstein Barr virus infections; Epstein-Barr virus; Ethnicity; Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Fraternal twins; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic factors; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Identical twins; Infections; Infectious mononucleosis; Infectious Mononucleosis - genetics; Male; Medical genetics; Microbiology; Mononucleosis; Population; Proportional Hazards Models; Questionnaires; Registries; Risk; Self Report; Twin studies; Twins; Twins, Dizygotic; Twins, Monozygotic; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268811002457

Infectious mononucleosis is a clinical manifestation of primary Epstein–Barr virus infection. It is unknown whether genetic factors contribute to risk. To assess heritability, we compared disease concordance in monozygotic to dizygotic twin pairs from the population-based California Twin Program and assessed the risk to initially unaffected co-twins. One member of 611 and both members of 58 twin pairs reported a history of infectious mononucleosis. Pairwise concordance in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs was respectively 12·1% [standard error (s.e.)=1·9%] and 6·1% (s.e.=1·2%). The relative risk (hazard ratio) of monozygotic compared to dizygotic unaffected co-twins of cases was 1·9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·1–3·4, P=0·03], over the follow-up period. When the analysis was restricted to same-sex twin pairs, that estimate was 2·5 (95% CI 1·2–5·3, P=0·02). The results are compatible with a heritable contribution to the risk of infectious mononucleosis.