Antibody response against the Epstein‐Barr virus‐coded nuclear antigen2 (EBNA2) in different groups of individuals

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Abstract
Specific antibody responses against the 2 major subcomponents of EBNA, EBNAI and EBNA2 were evaluated, in order to study whether this serological study was beneficial compared to classical EBV serology. During this investigation, 491 sera, obtained from blood donors and patients with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), infectious mononucleosis (IM), Hodgkin's disease, renal transplantation, rheumatoid arthritis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, were tested. While the anti-EBNAI response followed the classical anti-EBNA/Raji response (99% of anti-EBNA/Raji-positive sera also recognize EBNAI), the anti-EBNAI response was much less frequent and did not correlate with either anti-EBNA/Raji or anti-EA antibodies. In a control population, 8% of individuals had anti-EBNAZ antibodies at titers ≥ 10. The percentage was 45% In NPC and 38% in EBV-associated BL; thus, although not detected in all patients with EBV-associated tumors, anti-EBNA2 serology might be a useful marker in BL and NPC. No antibody was detected in the early course of IM, but in rheumatoid arthritis and in HIV-infected patients, the percentage of positive individuals reached 54 and 68, respectively. Seroconversion to EBNA2 was noted in a few cases, including renal transplant recipients, AIDS patients, and complicated IM. This suggests that in these situations, EBNA 2 serology might represent a useful marker related to modulation of the immune status or EBV reactivation.

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