MORPHOLOGIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LATENT MEMBRANE PROTEIN-1 (LMP-1)-POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TUMOR-CELLS IN EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS (EBV)-RELATED CHILDHOOD HODGKINS-DISEASE - A MORPHOMETRIC STUDY

The values of five cellular morphometric parameters (longest and short est cytoplasmic axis, cellular circumference, area and roundness coeff icient) were compared between 20 Latent Membrane Protein 1 (LMP-1)-pos itive and an equal number of LMP-1-negative Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin (HRS) cells for each of 13 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) occurring in children (aged 3-15 years); the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV ) encoded EBER mRNAs had previously been detected in all cases using R NA in situ hybridisation (RISH), while the presence of LMP-1 was immun ohistochemically detected using the alkaline phosphatase - antialkalin e phosphatase (APAAP) method. The longest and shortest axis, circumfer ence and area were larger in LMP-1-positive than in LMP-1 negative HRS cells, while the roundness coefficient of LMP-positive HRS cells was smaller than that of LMP-1 negative cells. All differences were statis tically highly significant when univariate (paired comparisons) t-test were used. Multivariate analysis (Hotelling's T-2 test) showed all di fferences (except the roundness coefficient) to be significant both at the 5% and 1% level of significance. These results provide a numerica l basis for the alteration brought by the expression of LMP-1 in the c ellular skeleton of tumour (HRS) cells in EBV-related childhood HD cas es.