Detection and Genotyping of Epstein-Bar Virus Among Paraffin Embedded Tissues of Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Patients in Ahvaz, Iran

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a DNA virus which belongs to the Herpesviridae family, has been infected with 90% of the world’s population. EBV is transmitted through saliva and associated with different diseases such as Infectious Mononucleosis, Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Burkitt`s lymphoma, Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma. This study was designed to determine the frequency of EBV DNA and genotyping of this virus in histological tissues of Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Ahvaz, Iran. In this study, 12 samples of Hodgkin and 29 samples of Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma were examined from Ahvaz Imam Khomeini Hospital. After deparaffinization and DNA extraction, Nested-PCR technique was carried out on Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1) and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 3C (EBNA-3C) regions in order to detect EBV genome and genotype in tumoral tissues. Among 12 cases of Hodgkin`s lymphoma, 3 (25%) cases and among 29 cases of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 14 (48%) cases were positive for EBV. All 3 EBV positive cases of Hodgkin`s lymphoma and a number of 8 (57%) cases of Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma belonged to the adolescence age group which proves an association between age and EBV positive in Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma according to Fisher`s exact test (P=0.03). All EBV positive cases in Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma were EBV-1. The results of this study revealed that EBV played a possible important role in Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma especially in adults. Also, the main genotype of virus in the current study was EBV-1.