The clonal composition of EBV-infected cells was examined in three cases of EBV-associated hemophagocytic syndrome by analysis of the heterogeneity of terminal repetitive sequences in the EBV genome, indicating monoclonal expansion of EBV-infected cells in all cases. Involvement of T lymphoid cells was determined by in situ hybridization using 35S-labeled RNA probes specific for the small EBV-encoded nuclear RNAs, EBER1 and EBER2, in combination with immunostaining for the TCR-beta chain, CD45RO, CD20, CD30 and CD68 antigens in these three cases. The majority of lymphoid cells showing EBER transcripts were stained by antibodies against CD45RO and T cell receptor-beta. In contrast, EBER-specific signals were not detectable on B cells or hemophagocytic cells. These data support the concept that EBV-associated T cell proliferation is a primary feature of EBV-AHS.
H Kawaguchi, T Miyashita, H Herbst, G Niedobitek, M Asada, M Tsuchida, R Hanada, A Kinoshita, M Sakurai, N Kobayashi
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.