Detection of Epstein-Barr Virus by PCR Analyses in Lymphoproliferative Disease of Granular Lymphocytes

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Abstract
We assayed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of fifty-eight patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (LDGL) for Epstein-Barr viral sequences. Phenotype analyses of the leukemic cell population(s) were also performed with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) to determine the lineage of the affected cells. Patients were shown to have proliferations of either CD3+ (T cell) LGL or CD3- (NK cell) LGL. Clonal studies showed that all CD3+ leukemic cells were clonally derived while none of the CD3—populations were. The CD3—leukemic cells were further studied through the use of two MAb, EB6 and GL183, that identify specific subsets of NK cells. Remarkably, 14 of 16 patients studied had skewed NK cell populations as compared to normal controls. Six of these patients had EBV detectable in their PBMC; moreover, EBV was found in all three LDGL patients with an EB6+GL183-NK phenotype. Of the CD3+ patients, only six of thirty-nine contained EBV sequences in their PBMC. These results indicate that EBV is not the cause of the LDGL seen in these patients; however, there may be a specific subset of NK cells that respond directly to EBV infection.

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