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Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigens 2 and 1 (EBNA-2 and EBNA-1, respectively) were studied using sera from healthy individuals of a population with a high incidence of asymptomatic primary EBV infections during infancy or childhood in Japan. Two CHO-K1 cell lines expressing EBNA-2 and EBNA-1 were used for anticomplement and indirect immunofluorescence assays. The positivity rate for EBNA-2 IgG rose in the 1-to 2-year age group, increased and remained at a plateau (ϳ45%) between 3 and 29 years of age (3-to 4-, 5-to 9-, 10-to 14-, and 15-to 29-year age groups), and then reached 98% by age 40 (>40-year age group). Both seropositivity for EBNA-1 and seropositivity for EBNAs in Raji cells (EBNA/Raji) were detected in the 1-to 2-year age group, remained high, and finally reached 100% by age 40. The geometric mean titer (GMT) of EBNA-2 IgG reached a plateau in the 5-to 9-and 10-to 14-year-old groups and remained elevated in the older age groups (15 to 29 and >40 years). The GMT of EBNA-1 IgGs increased to a plateau in the 1-to 2-year-old group and remained unchanged in the older age groups. The GMT of EBNA/Raji IgGs also reached a plateau in the 1-to 2-year-old group, remained level throughout the 3-to 14-year age groups, and decreased in the 15-to 29-year-olds. EBNA-2 IgGs emerged earlier than EBNA-1 IgGs in 8 of 10 patients with infectious mononucleosis, who were between 1 and 27 years old, and declined with time in three of eight cases. These results suggest that EBNA-2 IgG antibodies evoked in young children by asymptomatic primary EBV infections remain elevated throughout life, probably because of reactivation of latent and/or exogenous EBV superinfection.

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