Epstein-Barr virus-infected B cells persist in the circulation of acyclovir-treated virus carriers.
In this study, infectious Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) shedding in the oropharynx and numbers of virus-infected B cells in the blood have been monitored in long-term virus carriers receiving acyclovir (ACV) therapy for herpes zoster. Eleven patients on oral ACV were followed prospectively before, during and for 2 weeks after treatment. As expected, the low levels of EBV shedding in these virus carriers (measured as cord-blood lymphocyte transforming activity in throat washings) were eliminated during the period of ACV treatment and returned at later times. Over the same period, however, the frequency of virus-infected B cells in the blood (measured by spontaneous transformation in limiting dilution assay) remained completely unchanged. Regression assays showed that these same patients had normal levels of EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cell immunity, so that the in vivo persistence of virus-infected B cells could not be ascribed to a defect in T-cell surveillance. We infer that the in vivo half-life of the virus-infected B-cell pool in long-term virus carriers is measured in months rather than days. We further suggest that such persistence requires a novel form of virus:B-cell interaction distinct from the type of "latent" infection displayed by in vitro-transformed cells.
Yao
Q Y
QY
Department of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, Medical School, UK.
Ogan
P
P
Rowe
M
M
Wood
M
M
Rickinson
A B
AB
D000212:Acyclovir / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000212:Acyclovir