HIGH PREVALENCE OF THE EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IN A MEXICAN POPULATION WITH HODGKINS-DISEASE

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been demonstrated in association with cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) indicating that, in at least in some cases, EBV may play a pathogenic role in the development of HD. To det ermine the prevalence of EBV in HD in a Mexican adult population, we s tudied 39 formalin-fixed and/or B-5, paraffin embedded samples of pati ents with HD, by immunoperoxidase; in situ hybridization was done in 3 2 of the 39 cases. We analyzed the presence of the latent membrane pro tein (LMP) and EBV-specific DNA sequences. Reed-Sternberg cells and mo nonuclear variants were positive for LMP in 28 cases (72%). LMP staini ng was found both on the cell surface and/or within the cytoplasm with enhancement in the Golgi area. The LMP was found in the single case o f diffuse lymphocyte predominant HD, in 6/12 cases of nodular sclerosi s (50%), in 10/15 cases of mixed cellularity (67%) and in all eleven c ases of lymphocyte depleted HD (100%). No EBV-specific DNA sequences w ere found by in situ hybridization. Our results show: 1) a higher asso ciation of EBV in our population compared to the approximately 48% rep orted in developed countries; 2) all histologic subtypes of HD in Mexi co appear to be strongly associated with EBV in contrast to the strong association with only mixed cellularity seen in Western populations; 3) the high prevalence of EBV in HD in Mexico may be a function of his tology, ethnic groups, socioeconomic factors and/or geography.