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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2025; 31(48): 111187
Published online Dec 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i48.111187
Published online Dec 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i48.111187
Relationship between Epstein-Barr virus and inflammatory bowel disease
Su-Ying Li, Department of Emergency, Bozhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bozhou 236800, Anhui Province, China
Jia Jia, Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Lu-Zhou Xu, Kai Zheng, Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Su-Ying Li and Jia Jia.
Co-corresponding authors: Lu-Zhou Xu and Kai Zheng.
Author contributions: Li SY and Jia J contributed equally to this work, Li SY and Jia J are co-first authors of this manuscript; Li SY and Jia J did the literature survey and wrote the manuscript. Both Zheng K and Xu LZ have played important and indispensable roles in the conceived the idea and manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors. Zheng K applied for and obtained the funds for this project. Zheng K designed the manuscript. He did the literature survey, revised and submitted the early version of the manuscript. Xu LZ also designed the manuscript. He was responsible for re-interpretation, figure plotting, comprehensive literature search, preparation and submission of the current version of the manuscript. This collaboration between Zheng K and Xu LZ is crucial for the publication of this manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81873250.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kai Zheng, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 155 Station of Hanzhong Road, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. pajo@163.com
Received: July 9, 2025
Revised: August 17, 2025
Accepted: November 11, 2025
Published online: December 28, 2025
Processing time: 171 Days and 16.5 Hours
Revised: August 17, 2025
Accepted: November 11, 2025
Published online: December 28, 2025
Processing time: 171 Days and 16.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is widespread in the population, often causing EBV-related intestinal disease in immunocompromised groups - including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, who are susceptible to opportunistic EBV infection due to drug-induced immunosuppression. Patients with initial EBV-related intestinal symptoms require differentiation between EBV-associated enteritis and IBD complicated by EBV infection, while relapsed confirmed IBD cases should rule out concurrent EBV infection or reactivation. This review examines the distinctions and connections between EBV-related intestinal diseases and IBD, analyzes management strategies for IBD with EBV infection, and highlights EBV-related lymphoproliferative disorders.