To analyze the clinical features and risk factors of ulcerative colitis (UC)complicated with Epstein-Barr(EB)-viremia and the effect of antiviral therapy on the remission of the symptoms.

From April 2014 to January 2018, data of 239 UC patients hospitalized at the Department of Gastroenterology of Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University were collected. The patients were divided into EB-viremia group (trial group, n=43) and non-EB-viremia group (control group, n=196) according to EB virus-DNA detection. The general condition, clinical characteristics and therapeutic efficacy of the two groups were compared. The risk factors and the effect of antiviral therapy on the remission of symptoms of UC complicated with EB-viremia were analyzed. Chi-square test and logistic analysis were used for statistical analysis.

There were no significant differences in gender, age, clinical type, lesion range, the proportion of patients treated with 5-aminosalicylic acid or corticosteroids, the percentage of patients with diarrhea and bloody stool, the proportion of patients with spontaneous bleeding, platy ulcer and longitudinal ulcer under colonoscopy, the course of disease or Mayo score between the trial group and control group (all P>0.05). The proportions of patients with smoking history and severe disease, treatment with azathioprine and 6-mertocapurine (6-MP), treatrnent with infliximab, symptoms of fever or abdominal pain and deep and large ulcer under colonoscopy in the trial group were all higher than those in the control group, and the differences were all statistically significant (χ²=5.304, 6.608, 6.718, 6.939, 8.783, 4.493 and 5.425, all P<0.05). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking history and treatment with azathioprine and 6-MP were risk factors of UC complicated with EB-viremia (OR=2.801 and 9.343, 95%CI 1.170 to 6.703 and 1.749 to 49.922, P=0.021 and 0.009). The improvement rates of the trial group and control group were 79.1%(34/43) and 95.4%(187/196), respectively. There was a significant difference in the improvement rate between the two groups (χ²=10.551, P=0.001). In the trial group, 12 patients (27.9%) received ganciclovir treatment, fonr patients (9.3%) had foscarnet sodium treatment, 21 patients (48.8%) were treated with the combination of these two medications and six cases (14.0%) did not received any antiviral treatment. After three weeks, the improvement cases of the above regimens were 8, 4, 16 and 6, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the improvement rate of patients with and without antiviral treatment, further more, no difference was found in the improvement rate of patients with different antiviral treatments (all P>0.05).

Smoking history and purine treatment are risk factors of UC complicated with EB-viremia.

Colitis, ulcerative; Risk factors; Epstein-Barr virus; Clinical manifestations; Endoscopic features