REAPPRAISAL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMMUNOGLOBULIN HEAVY-CHAIN GENE REARRANGEMENT AND EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS INFECTION IN REED-STERNBERG CELLS OF HODGKINS-DISEASE

We investigated 44 cases of Hodgkin's disease for Epstein-Barr virus g enome with EBER-1 in situ hybridization, Twenty of 44 (45.5%) were pos itive for EBV. Simultaneously, immunoglobulin gene rearrangements were assessed in 32 of these 44 cases with PCR on DNA extracted from Reed- Sternberg cell (RS-cell) -rich areas microdissected from paraffin sect ions. Clonally rearranged immunoglobulin (IgH) gene was observed in 15 cases (46.9%). EBV-negative cases showed more frequent IgH rearrangem ent than EBV-positive cases (10 and 5 cases, respectively). In 9 cases , the RS cells were CD20-positive immunohistochemically and these were all EBV negative and the IgH gene was rearranged in all except one. T hese findings may suggest that EBV infection has occurred before the i mmunoglobulin gene rearrangement or that EBV infection has influenced the rearrangement of the immunoglobulin gene. The results may also hin t towards the obscure B-cell nature of the RS cells.