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J Med Microbiol 53 (2004), 381-387; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.05439-0
© 2004 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 0022-2615

Polymorphism analysis of Epstein–Barr virus isolates of lymphoblastoid cell lines from patients with mycosis fungoides

M. A. De Francesco1, F. Gargiulo1, P. Esteban1, P. G. Calzavara-Pinton2, M. Venturini2, F. Perandin1, M. Baronio1, C. Pollara1, L. Terlenghi1 and N. Manca1

1Institute of Microbiology, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy 2Department of Dermatology, Spedali Civili, Piazzale Spedali Civili, 1, 25123 Brescia, Italy

Correspondence M. A. De Francesco defrance{at}med.unibs.it

Received August 18, 2003
Accepted December 19, 2003

In order to determine whether there is an association between the presence of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and mycosis fungoides (MF) disease progression, PCR was performed to detect the EBV status of 20 MF patients; six EBV-positive patients were found. EBV variants may differ in their biological properties, such as their ability to transform cells; therefore, the ability of these variants to immortalize B cells in vitro was analysed. Six continuously growing cell lines were obtained from prolonged cultures of unstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells that were taken from the six EBV-positive patients with MF. In order to characterize the EBV strains, EBNA-2 and LMP-1/LMP-2 gene polymorphisms in the six cell lines were also analysed. All patients were followed up for 10 years and it was noticed that EBV-positive patients had a poor prognosis with rapid disease progression and high mortality rates, compared to EBV-negative patients. EBV may therefore constitute a co-factor that accelerates the progression of disease.

Abbreviations: CTCL, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; EBNA, Epstein–Barr virus-determined nuclear antigen; EBV, Epstein–Barr virus; HTLV, human T-cell leukaemia virus; IFN, interferon; LCL, lymphocyte cell line; LMP, latent membrane protein; MF, mycosis fungoides; M/M, monocyte/macrophage; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; PE, phycoerythrin; TNM, tumour–node–metastasis.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the LMP-1 gene of the B95.8 strain is X66863. The accession numbers for the six LMP-1 sequences are AY495413–AY495418, and those for LMP-2A are AY495419–AY495424.






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