Genotyping of Epstein-Barr virus in Brazilian Burkitt's lymphoma and reactive lymphoid tissue. Type A with a high prevalence of deletions within the latent membrane protein gene.
Both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) types A and B are found in endemic Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) occurring in equatorial Africa. We studied 17 cases of Brazilian BL previously demonstrated to be EBV-positive to determine the EBV type as well as the presence of a characteristic 30 bp deletion within the 3' end of the latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) gene that may be important to the pathogenesis of several EBV-associated neoplasms. All cases in which the age was known were children. We found type A EBV in 13 of 14 (93%) evaluable cases, and type B in one case. The LMP-1 deletion was found in 12 of 15 (80%) evaluable cases, including the one case of type B EBV, and a similar high prevalence (59%) of the deletion was detected in EBV-positive normal and reactive lymphoid tissues from individuals from the same geographic region. The high proportion of cases associated with type A EBV suggests that immunodeficiency is not an important factor in the pathogenesis of Brazilian BL, in contrast to endemic African BL. The presence of the LMP-1 deletion in a high prevalence in the normal population in this region is unexplained.
Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California 91010, USA.
W G
WG
Chen
Y Y
YY
Chen
M M
MM
Bacchi
C E
CE
Bacchi
M
M
Alvarenga
L M
LM
Weiss
D000293:Adolescent; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction