High prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus in the Reed-Sternberg cells of HIV-associated Hodgkin's disease.
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease, with an frequency of 15 to 50% in the immunocompetent host. We studied 12 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cases of Hodgkin's disease occurring in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals to determine the frequency of EBV in Hodgkin's disease from this population. EBV DNA-RNA in situ hybridization was performed using a 30-base biotinylated anti-sense oligonucleotide complementary to the EBER1 gene of EBV. EBV RNA was found in the Reed-Sternberg cells and variants in 11 of 12 cases. Double-labeling studies confirmed the presence of EBV RNA in CD15-expressing Hodgkin's cells in all 11 cases, although rare B lymphocytes coexpressing EBV RNA and CD20 were also noted in these cases. The Hodgkin's cells in all 11 EBER-positive cases expressed latent membrane protein. The one case negative for EBV RNA showed the histology of nodular, lymphocyte predominance, a subtype thought to be distinct from other types of Hodgkin's disease.
Department of Pathology, San Francisco General Hospital, CA 94110.
B G
BG
Herndier
H C
HC
Sanchez
K L
KL
Chang
Y Y
YY
Chen
L M
LM
Weiss
D000328:Adult; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D016539:Reed-Sternberg Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic