Abstract
To diagnose Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-assodated diseases and to explore the pathogenesis of EBV infection, not only must the EBV load be measured, but EBV-infected cells must also be identified. We established a novel flow cytometric in situ hybridization assay to detect EBV+ suspension cells using a peptide nucleic acid probe specific for EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER). By enhancing fluorescence and photostability, we successfully stained EBER and surface antigens on the same cells. In 3 patients with hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disease, we demonstrated that 1.7%-25.9% of peripheral lymphocytes were infected with EBV and specifically identified these lymphocytes as CD3+CD4-CD8- y δ T cell receptor-positive T cells. The results indicate that this novel and noninvasive assay is a direct and reliable method of characterizing EBVinfected lymphocytes that can be used not only to diagnose EBV infection but also to clarify the pathogenesis of EBV-associated diseases.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1078-1087 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 200 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 1 2009 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Infectious Diseases