Epstein-Barr virus DNA load and its association with Helicobacter pylori infection in gastroduodenal diseases.
Helicobacter pylori and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections are common worldwide. Although H. pylori infection is a major factor in gastroduodenal diseases, its role in association with EBV infection is unknown.


OBJECTIVE
To study the association of H. pylori infection and EBV DNA load in patients with gastroduodenal diseases.


METHODS
Biopsy samples were collected from 200 adult patients [non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) 100, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) 50, gastric carcinoma (GC) 50] undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by rapid urease test, culture, histopathology, PCR and Q-PCR. EBV DNA was detected by non-polymorphic Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) gene based Q-PCR.


RESULTS
In patients with GC and PUD, EBV DNA was detected more often than NUD (GC versus NUD = 90% versus 37%, p < 0.001; PUD versus NUD = 70% versus 37%, p < 0.001). The dual prevalence of H. pylori infection and EBV DNA was significantly higher in patients with GC and PUD than in those with NUD. Median copy number of EBV DNA was considerably higher in GC and PUD than NUD (p < 0.01). The copy number of EBV DNA was significantly higher in H. pylori infected patients (p = 0.015). The number of ureA gene copies was also found to be significantly higher in PUD and NUD with presence of EBV DNA. However, in GC no significant difference was seen between EBV positive and negative status.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a trend for higher EBV DNA load in H. pylori positive individuals suggesting a probable role of H. pylori in modulating the conversion of EBV to its lytic phase.
Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
Sanket Kumar
SK
Shukla
K N
KN
Prasad
Aparna
A
Tripathi
Avinash
A
Singh
Ashish
A
Saxena
Uday Chand
UC
Ghoshal
Narendra
N
Krishnani
Nuzhat
N
Husain
D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D019562:Viral Load
D004279:DNA, Viral