Investigation of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus DNAs in pterygium tissue.
OBJECTIVE
Recent studies postulated the presence of a probable relationship between pterygium and neoplasia. This study aimed to investigate the role of two oncogenic viruses, human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), in the development of conjunctival pterygia.


METHODS
Polymerase chain reaction was used to identify the presence of HPV and EBV in 30 primary and 10 recurrent pterygia samples. Twenty conjunctival samples obtained from patients undergoing cataract surgeries were used as the control group. Patient groups had similar sex, race, and age distribution to eliminate bias. For exploration of HPV in groups, two different PCR methods (in-house PCR with two different primer sets and one real-time PCR method) were studied. The presence of EBV was shown by real-time PCR method.


RESULTS
HPV was identified in none of the pterygia and control group patients. However, EBV was detected in 3 out of 30 (10%) primary pterygia patients and in none of the recurrent pterygia and control patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Up to now, HPV has been blamed as the major viral pathogen in the etiopathogenesis of pterygium. The current results suggest that EBV may also be involved in the pathogenesis of pterygium, but further larger studies with larger cohorts are required to confirm this hypothesis.
Otlu
Baris
B
Microbiology, Inonu University Medical Faculty, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Research Hospital, Malatya - Turkey.
Emre
Sinan
S
Turkcuoglu
Peykan
P
Doganay
Selim
S
Durmaz
Riza
R
D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D015828:Eye Infections, Viral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011625:Pterygium / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery / Q000821:virology*; D012008:Recurrence
D004279:DNA, Viral