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IgA antibodies against the Epstein‐Barr nuclear antigen1 as a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Tunisian patients
Author(s) -
Ayadi Wajdi,
KarrayHakim Héla,
Feki Lamia,
Khabir Abdelmajid,
Boudawara Tahia,
Ghorbel Abdelmonem,
Daoud Jamel,
Frikha Mounir,
Hammami Adnane
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.21532
Subject(s) - nasopharyngeal carcinoma , epstein–barr virus , serology , lymphoma , antibody , antigen , medicine , immunology , carcinoma , virus , biomarker , virology , biology , pathology , radiation therapy , biochemistry
Serological tests for Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) have been used for many years as diagnostic predictors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It has been shown previously that the conventional immunofluorescence assay has a limited diagnostic value, especially in young patients from North African area. In the search for more reliable immunoglobulin (Ig) G or IgA antibody markers for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, immunoblot analysis was performed using a full spectrum of EBV proteins. Sera were collected from 108 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and three control groups composed of 18 patients with lymphoma, 18 other patients with autoimmune diseases and 55 healthy EBV carriers. It was observed that the IgA Epstein‐Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), IgA early antigen (EA)‐p138 and IgG EA‐p138 antibodies represent the most specific anti‐EBV responses in either young or older patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma which yield higher positive rates compared to the three control groups. Since the IgA EBNA1 response showed the highest sensitivity value for the detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a novel enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established using a GST‐EBNA1 protein expressed in bacteria, containing the P‐threonine EBNA1 subtype cloned from DNA EBV sequence of C15 xenograft cells. Detection rates were 85.7% and 94.9% in young and older patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma respectively, while only 3.6%, 11.1%, and 16.6% in healthy EBV carriers, patients with lymphoma and patients with autoimmune diseases, respectively. Thus, IgA EBNA1 ELISA may be useful for early diagnosis and mass screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Tunisia even in young patients. J. Med. Virol. 81:1412–1421, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.