Objective: To study the association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and lymphoma.
Methods: PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the presence of EBV in 51 cases of Hodgkin's disease in the Guang dong area.
Results: The detection rate of EBV-BNLF1 fragment by PCR was 80.4%, significantly higher than that of reactive hyperplasia of lymph nodes (RHLN). Cloning and sequence analysis revealed the PCR product to be BNLF1 fragment, but no mutation was found. In situ hybridization (ISH) demonstrated EBV in the nuclei of malignant and non-malignant cells in 15 of the 41 PCR-positive cases. The expression product of BNLF1 gene-latent membrane protein (LMP1) was detected in 25 of the 51 cases of HD (49%) and the staining was restricted to the tumor cells. The detection rates of BNLF1 fragment and its expression in the 15 cases of HD under 20 years of age were much higher that those in HD over 20 years of age and RHLN of the same age group (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: There was EBV infection and expression of its latent membrane protein in the tumor cells in half of the HD cases and may play a role in the genesis and development of HD. The results also suggest that HD in children and adolescence being more closely correlated with EBV latent infection.