Polymerase chain reaction genotyping of Epstein-Barr virus in scraping samples of the tongue lateral border in HIV-1 seropositive patients

Abstract

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the etiological agent of oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL), an oral lesion with important diagnostic and prognostic value in acquired immunodeficiency disease syndrome. The two EBV genotypes, EBV-1 and EBV-2, can be distinguished by divergent gene sequences encoding the EBNA-2, 3A, 3B, and 3C proteins. The purpose of this study was to identify the EBV genotype prevalent in 53 samples of scrapings from the lateral border of the tongue of HIV-1 seropositive patients, with and without OHL, and to correlate the genotypes with presence of clinical or subclinical OHL with the clinic data collected. EBV-1 and EBV-2 were identified through PCR and Nested-PCR based on sequence differences of the EBNA-2 gene. EBV-1 was identified in the 31 samples (15 without OHL, 7 with clinical OHL and 9 with subclinical OHL), EBV-2 in 12 samples (10 without OHL, 1 with clinical and 1 subclinical OHL), and a mixed infection in 10 samples (2 without OHL, 3 with clinical and 5 with subclinical OHL). The presence of EBV-1 was higher in women, but a significant statistical result relating one the EBV genotypes to the development of OHL was not found. We conclude that the oral epithelium in HIV-1 seropositive patients can be infected by EBV-1, EBV-2 or by a mixed viral population.

Epstein-Barr Virus Genotypes and Strains in Central Nervous System Demyelinating Disease and Epstein-Barr Virus-Related Illnesses in Australia

“…In Australia, genotype B infections were reportedly six-fold higher in HIV-infected patients than in the general community [40]. Although we did not find any genotype B cases in our HIV-infected population (table 1), published data pertaining to EBV genotypes in HIV infection show conflicting results; studies report the dominance of genotype A [9,32], equal prevalence of both genotypes A and B [29], the occurrence of co-infections [40,43], or genotype switching over the course of infection [41]. These inconsistencies may perhaps be attributed to the immune dysregulation caused by HIV.…”

“…This was expected, as genotype A is detected more frequently in Western and Asian countries [9,29]. Moreover, genotype A was isolated from all study groups and was not limited to a specific disease.…”

“…Genotype differences are largely related to lymphocyte-transforming abilities in vitro [8], although epidemiological studies also show variation in the geographical distribution of different genotypes. For example, EBV genotype A is predominantly found in Western countries and Asia [9,10], whilst genotype B is frequently isolated in samples from equatorial Africa and New Guinea [10,11]. Notwithstanding this general geographical variation, there is more localised regional variation in relation to specific diseases.…”

Epstein-Barr virus in oral mucosa from human immunodeficiency virus positive patients

“…3 EBV type 1 is prevalent in most of populations studied. 4,5 However, other studies have revealed that in specific geographic areas, the prevalence of EBV type 1 is similar to the prevalence of EBV type 2. 6 Risk factors for EBV infection and its genotypes have not been fully investigated.…”

O Papel do Epstein Barr Vírus na Carcinogênese Oral

“…Os dois tipos apresentam-se em diferentes localizações geográficas, o EBV-1 é predominante em países ocidentais, e o EBV-2 é prevalente na África, Oceania (Nova Guiné), e em pacientes HIV positivo. As propriedades biológicas desses 2 tipos são também distintas, o EBV-1 é mais potente do que o EBV-2 na transformação e imortalização de linfócitos B infectados in vitro, mais ambos os tipos de EBV podem atuar como patógenos humanos 3,10 . Muitos estudos têm demonstrado que a expressão de genes virais latentes, especialmente os genes EBNAs e LMP-1 (proteína de membrana latente-1), tem sido intimamente associado com infecção latente que se correlaciona com a imortalização e carcinogênese 11 .…”