Epstein-Barr virus in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and non-AIDS primary central nervous system lymphoma

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) still occurs mainly in patients who are immunosuppressed, but its incidence is rising dramatically among immunocompetent individuals. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been detected by in situ hybridization in PCNSL tumor tissue from patients who are immunodeficient, but not from patients who are immunocompetent. Using the more sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, the authors analyzed PCNSL tissue from 13 patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and 13 patients who were immunocompetent for the presence of EBV genome.

DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded biopsy or autopsy specimens. PCR was run using primers for EBV (from the first internal repeat segment of the EBV genome), and identical samples were run simultaneously with primers against actin or the p53 gene as controls to establish the presence of DNA in the sample. Reaction products were also Southern blotted to confirm EBV specificity.

EBV was detected in the tumor tissue of 11 of 13 patients (85%) with AIDS and of 7 of 13 patients (54%) who did not have AIDS. There was a history of illness that might suggest or predispose to immune compromise in 5 of 13 patients without AIDS; however, prior illness did not predict EBV-positive tumors.

Although mechanisms remain to be clarified, EBV was present in a high percentage of patients with AIDS-related PCNSL and non-AIDS-related PCNSL: