title: Neutralizing EBV-specific IgA in throat washings of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.
abstract: Throat washings from 26 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients from Hong Kong and Tunisia were studied for the presence of transforming EBV. Only six (23%) were found positive which led to the hypothesis of a neutralizing factor in such salivas. The search for EBV-specific antibodies showed that NPC saliva contained neutralizing VCA and EA IgA (54 and 27% respectively) and VCA and EA IgG (73 AND 54% respectively). Both transforming and non-transforming throat washings contained virus particles as visualized by electron microscopy, but in non-transforming salivas (containing IgA and IgG) the particles were found to be clumped. Comparative study of throat washings from patients with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL); infectious mononucleosis (IM), immunodeficiencies, other cancers, and healthy subjects showed that IgA were restricted to NPC cases.
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000276:immunology; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G