RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Coghill, Anna E. A1 Hsu, Wan-Lun A1 Yang, Qi A1 Wang, Cheng-Ping A1 Lou, Pei-Jen A1 Yu, Kelly J. A1 Yu, Guoqin A1 Diehl, Scott R. A1 Chen, Chien-Jen A1 Goldstein, Alisa M. A1 Hildesheim, AllanYR 2018 T1 Elevated antibodies against Epstein–Barr virus among individuals predicted to carry nasopharyngeal carcinoma susceptibility variants JF Journal of General Virology, VO 99 IS 9 SP 1268 OP 1273 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001115 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is an obligatory factor in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and anti-EBV IgA antibodies are elevated many years prior to the development of NPC. Nearly all adults are infected with EBV, but only a few develop cancer, suggesting that additional co-factors, including genetic susceptibility, must be required for the disease to manifest. Individuals were selected from the Taiwan Family Study, a cohort of 3389 individuals from NPC multiplex families. Primary analyses were conducted among 671 individuals from 69 pedigrees with the strongest family history of disease (>3 NPC-affected family members). The likelihood that a given family member carried a NPC susceptibility variant was estimated using Mendelian segregation rules, assuming a dominant mode of inheritance. We compared anti-EBV IgA antibody seropositivity between family members predicted to be carriers of NPC-linked genetic variants and those with a lower likelihood of carrying such variants. Obligate carriers of NPC susceptibility variants (100 % predicted probability of harbouring the genetic mutation) were nine-fold more likely to be anti-EBV IgA positive compared to family members predicted not to carry disease-causing variants (OR=9.2; P-trend<0.001). This elevated risk was confirmed in analyses restricted to both unaffected individuals and pedigrees with EBV-related pathway variants identified through exome sequencing. Our data indicate that family members who are more likely to carry NPC susceptibility variants are also more likely to be anti-EBNA1 IgA seropositive. Genetic susceptibility associated with control over this common herpes virus is likely a co-factor in determining which EBV-infected adults develop NPC., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.001115