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Persisten of Epstein–Barr virus in Reed–Sternberg cells throughout the course of Hodgkin's disease
Author(s) -
Coates Philip J.,
Slavin Gerard,
D'Ardenne A. Jane
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711640404
Subject(s) - virus , reed–sternberg cell , epstein–barr virus , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , population , virology , biology , disease , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , lymphoma , immunology , medicine , hodgkin lymphoma , genetics , in vitro , environmental health
Non‐isotopic in situ hybridization employing digoxigenin‐labelled DNA probes has been used to localize Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in 55 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD). The virus was found in Reed–Sternberg (RS) and mononuclear Hodgkin's cells in nine patients (16 per cent). Further samples taken at different times from three patients also showed the presence of EBV in the malignant cell population. Estimations of the number of EBV genomes present per cell suggested wide variations between different patients, but relatively constant amounts in different samples from the same patient. These findings are compatible with a stable infection of the neoplastic cells and support the notion that EBV may play a role in the development of HD in these patients. We also found evidence for the presence of EBV in a small percentage of non‐neoplastic cells in 8 of the 55 samples. This suggests that isolation of EBV from HD tissue does not always signify a pathogenetic role for the virus. Furthermore, it is apparent that a high percentage of HD tissues do not contain demonstrable EBV, and the virus is therefore unlikely to be a causative agent for all cases of HD.