title: Presence of human beta- and gamma-herpes virus DNA in Hodgkin's disease.
abstract: Herpes viruses have been implicated in the etiology of Hodgkin's disease (HD). We studied the prevalence of human cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpes viruses type-6 (HHV-6), type-7 (HHV-7) and type 8 (HHV-8) DNA in up to 88 Hodgkin's disease biopsies in comparison to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and reactive lesions served as controls. CMV and HHV-6 were found in 8/86 (9%) and 11/88 (13%) HD cases, respectively, by nested primer PCR. Except for three cases harbouring HHV-6 type-B, only HHV-6 type-A was detected in HD. HHV-7 was observed by nested PCR in 33/88 (38%) HD cases and was already detectable in 15/88 (17%) HD cases by a single-round PCR indicating elevated virus copy numbers. Seven of these cases showed co-infection with HHV-6, and 11 cases were found to contain EBV DNA. 7/8 CMV-positive HD cases also harboured EBV DNA. HHV-8 DNA was not detected by single round or nested PCR in any HD case investigated. Thus, CMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7 were present in small proportions of HD cases, with frequent co-infection of HHV-6 and HHV-7, and frequent association with EBV. In contrast to EBV, beta-herpes viruses are therefore unlikely to have a role in the aetiology of HD. Rather, the presence of these viruses seems to reflect impaired immunological surveillance.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Innere Medizin, Hämatologie und Onkologie, Virchow-Klinikum, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany. christian.schmidt@charite.de
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oettle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wilborn
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huhn
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Siegert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Herbst
mesh_terms: D018141:Betaherpesvirinae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D018142:Gammaherpesvirinae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral