Purpose: EBV has been associated with nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC). In North Africa, the incidence is bimodalöthe first peak occurring at f20 years of age and the second peak occurring at f50 years. Standard diagnostic tests based on immunofluorescence using anti-IgA EBV have shown that young North African patients have a negative serology compared with older patients.We are interested in two EBV-encoded oncoproteins, LMP1and BARF1, which have thus far not been studied in terms of their potential as diagnostic markers for NPC. These two viral oncoproteins have been detected in cell culture media, so we tested whether they could be detected in the serum and saliva of patients with NPC. Experimental Design: LMP1 and BARF1 proteins were analyzed in the sera and saliva of young patients and adult patients with NPC from North Africa and China. We then examined whether the secreted proteins had biological activity by analyzing their mitogenic activity. Results: Both LMP1 and BARF1 were present in the serum and saliva from North African and Chinese patients with NPC. All young North African patients secreted both proteins, whereas 62% and 100% of adult patients secreted LMP1 and BARF1, respectively. From animal studies, the secreted LMP1was associated with exosome-like vesicles. These secreted EBV oncoproteins showed a powerful mitogenic activity in B cells. Conclusion: Both proteins will be a good diagnostic marker for NPC whereas BARF1is a particularly promising marker for all ages of patients with NPC. Their mitogenic activity suggests their implication in the oncogenic development of NPC. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a human malignancyderived from the epithelium of the nasopharyngeal cavity. It is one of the most striking examples of a human malignancy that is consistently associated with a virus (1 -3). The EBV genome is contained in all malignant NPC cells and it encodes viral proteins that contribute to the malignant phenotype (4 -6). Even though infection with EBV is ubiquitous in humans, the incidence of NPC is extremely variable, depending on the geographic area. Whereas the incidence of NPCs in the Chinese population peaks at f50 years of age, there are two peaks of incidence in North Africa-one at f20 years of age and the second at f50 years of age (6). Because of the close association of EBV with NPC, detection of EBV anti-IgA, anti-EA, or anti-VCA by immunofluorescence tests in serum from patients with NPC is used in most Asian countries. However, this test is almost always negative for young North African patients (6). Recent data showed a successful diagnosis of NPC by molecular serology based on EBV-encoded proteins, DNase, thymidine kinase, and p16 VCA used as viral antigens (7 -10). Virus load in patient blood has been used as a diagnostic marker for NPC (11,12), but high levels have been reported in nonneoplastic disorders, gastrointestinal malignancies, and for lymphoproliferative disease (13,14). We therefore need a more reliable, simpler, and specific diagnostic test for NPC.Seve...

BackgroundDespite the fact that the implication of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the carcinogenesis and prognosis of cervical cancer is well established, the impact of a co-infection with high risk HPV (HR-HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is still not fully understood.MethodsFifty eight randomly selected cases of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of the uterine cervix, 14 normal cervices specimens, 21 CIN-2/3 and 16 CIN-1 cases were examined for EBV and HPV infections. Detection of HR-HPV specific sequences was carried out by PCR amplification using consensus primers of Manos and by Digene Hybrid Capture. The presence of EBV was revealed by amplifying a 660 bp specific EBV sequence of BALF1. mRNA expression of LMP-1 in one hand and protein levels of BARF-1, LMP-1 and EBNA-1 in the other hand were assessed by RT-PCR and immunoblotting and/or immunohischemistry respectively.ResultsHR-HPV infection was found in patients with SCC (88%), low-grade (75%) and high grade (95%) lesions compared to only 14% of normal cervix cases. However, 69%, 12.5%, 38.1%, and 14% of SCC, CIN-1, CIN-2/3 and normal cervix tissues, respectively, were EBV infected. The highest co-infection (HR-HPV and EBV) was found in squamous cell carcinoma cases (67%). The latter cases showed 27% and 29% expression of EBV BARF-1 and LMP-1 oncogenes respectively.ConclusionThe high rate of HR-HPV and EBV co-infection in SCC suggests that EBV infection is incriminated in cervical cancer progression. This could be taken into account as bad prognosis in this type of cancer. However, the mode of action in dual infection in cervical oncogenesis needs further investigation.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading causes of food-borne illness worldwide. Raw milk and dairy products are often contaminated with enterotoxigenic strains of this bacterium. Some of these strains carry antimicrobial resistance, leading to a potential risk for consumers. The aim of this study was to characterize S. aureus strains circulating in raw milk and traditional dairy products for carriage of staphylococcal enterotoxin (se) genes and antimicrobial resistance. Overall, 62 out of 270 samples (23%) were contaminated with S. aureus, and 69 S. aureus strains were identified. We studied the enterotoxin genes using 2 multiplex PCR targeting 11 se genes. Seventeen (24.6%) isolates carried one or more genes encoding for staphylococcal enterotoxins. The most commonly detected se genes were seb and sep, followed by seh, sea, and see. Using the disk diffusion method, we found that resistance to penicillin G and tetracycline was the most common. Eleven isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) carried the mecA gene. All MRSA isolates belonged to the same spa type (t024) and sequence type (ST8), and carried the seb and sep enterotoxin genes. However, none of them carried the Panton Valentine leukocidin gene (lukF/S-PV). The presence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains, including MRSA, in raw milk and dairy products, raises a serious public health concern, because these strains may cause food poisoning outbreaks, be disseminated to the population, or both.