Objective: To understand the distribution of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies, namely EBNA 1/IgA, ZEBRA/IgA, EBNA 1/IgG in the populations of different ages or genders in Zhongshan City of Guangdong Province, China.
Method: A total of 484 serum samples were obtained from the population of Zhongshan City including 16 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and were assayed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for EBV antibodies.
Results: The serum antibody level of EBNA1/IgA, represented by its relative optical density value abbreviated as D(lambda), was 0.726 +/- 0.541 in male and 0.563 +/- 0.340 in female subjects, showing significant difference (P<0.001). The level of ZEBRA/IgG in the male subjects was significantly lower than that of the female subjects (0.709 +/- 0.480 vs 0.829 +/- 0.480, P<0.01). EBNA1/IgG levels differed little between the male and the female subjects, being 0.781 +/- 0.285 and 0.784 +/- 0.302 respectively (P<0.05). The positivity rate of ZEBRA/IgG was obviously related to the subjects' ages with a correlation factor of 0.766 (P<0.05), and NPC patients had significantly higher levels of the 3 antibodies than did the healthy subjects (P<0.01).
Conclusions: The serum levels of these 3 antibodies fluctuate within a limited range in different age groups or between genders, significant increasing in NPC group and therefore may help the diagnosis of NPC. It can be imperative to set differently critical values of EBV antibody for different population groups to facilitate nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) diagnosis and high-risk screening.