The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) major envelope glycoprotein gp350/220-specific antibody reactivities in the sera of patients with different EBV-associated diseases.
gp350 of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) induces a strong immune response in EBV-infected individuals, but relatively little is known about the clinical relevance of this response in patients with different EBV-associated malignancies and other diseases. Using our gp350-expressing cell clones, we studied gp350-specific humoral immune responses in the sera of individuals with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), chronic symptomatic EBV infection (CEI), Hodgkin's disease (HD), acute infectious mononucleosis (IM) and healthy EBV-seropositive individuals (HI). The titres of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) antibodies were highest in HI followed by CEI, HD and NPC. EBV-neutralizing (NA) and gp350-specific IgG antibody profiles in these conditions were: CEI > HI > NPC > HD, whereas IgA titres were the highest in NPC sera followed by CEI and HD. The sera from IM patients were found to be negative for gp350-specific ADCC and IgA activities. Sera from HI were also negative for gp350-specific IgA. A significant positive correlation was found between serum gp350 IgA and viral capsid antigen IgA and a significant negative one between IgM and ADCC titres. High IgA titres were also found in CEI and EBV-genome positive HD in addition to NPC. Importantly, gp350-specific IgA titres were of prognostic value in NPC patients. Our data provide new insights about the clinical relevance of gp350-specific immune responses in these diseases.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Pediatric Research Center, University of Montreal and Ste-Justine Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
J
J
Xu
A
A
Ahmad
M
M
Blagdon
M
M
D'Addario
J F
JF
Jones
R
R
Dolcetti
E
E
Vaccher
U
U
Prasad
J
J
Menezes
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins