Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1991 Aug;85(2):209–213. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1991.tb05706.x

Sequential serological studies of homosexual men with and without HIV infection. Epstein-Barr virus activation preceding and following HIV seroconversion.

A Schattner 1, N Hanuka 1, B Sarov 1, I Sarov 1, Z Handzel 1, Z Bentwich 1
PMCID: PMC1535760  PMID: 1650655

Abstract

Viral cofactors may be important in the pathogenesis of HIV infection and the development of AIDS, but their role is still imperfectly understood. Sequential serological studies were performed in a cohort of 100 homosexual men and 70 matched healthy controls over a mean period of 4 years. Of the patients, 18 were found to be HIV+ on admission to the study and 15 seroconverted to HIV+ during the follow up (seroconversion group). Serum antibodies of both IgG and IgA isotypes against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) were determined. IgG antibodies indicate past infection, while a marked increase in IgG titre or a positive IgA titre were taken to indicate active infection or reactivated latent infection. EBV and CMV infections were about two to four times more prevalent in the homosexual men both HIV- and HIV+, compared with controls. Active infections were increased in the homosexual men and particularly in the HIV+ patients. The seroconversion group revealed activation of both EBV and CMV following HIV infection. When the antibody profile of seroconverting patients at the time preceding seroconversion was compared with a matched group of 39 homosexual men who remained HIV-, no change was found in CMV antibodies, but four out of 15 (26.6%) of the patients had high titres of anti-EBV IgA preceding seroconversion, as compared with only one out of 39 (2.6%) of HIV- homosexual men (P less than 0.05). This suggests a role for EBV reactivation in the pathogenesis of HIV infection in some patients.

Full text

PDF
209

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Albrecht M. A., DeLuca N. A., Byrn R. A., Schaffer P. A., Hammer S. M. The herpes simplex virus immediate-early protein, ICP4, is required to potentiate replication of human immunodeficiency virus in CD4+ lymphocytes. J Virol. 1989 May;63(5):1861–1868. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.5.1861-1868.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bentwich Z., Burstein R., Berner Y., Gotlieb-Stematsky T., Vonsover A., Handzel Z. Immune changes in male homosexuals--predisposing factors for HIV seroconversion. Leukemia. 1988 Dec;2(12 Suppl):241S–247S. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bentwich Z., Saxinger C., Ben-Ishay Z., Burstein R., Berner Y., Pecht M., Trainin N., Levin S., Handzel Z. T. Immune impairments and antibodies to HTLVIII/LAV in asymptomatic male homosexuals in Israel: relevance to the risk of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). J Clin Immunol. 1987 Sep;7(5):376–380. doi: 10.1007/BF00917015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Berry N. J., Burns D. M., Wannamethee G., Grundy J. E., Lui S. F., Prentice H. G., Griffiths P. D. Seroepidemiologic studies on the acquisition of antibodies to cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and human immunodeficiency virus among general hospital patients and those attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. J Med Virol. 1988 Apr;24(4):385–393. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890240405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Beutler B. The presence of cachectin/tumor necrosis factor in human disease states. Am J Med. 1988 Sep;85(3):287–288. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(88)90575-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Birx D. L., Redfield R. R., Tosato G. Defective regulation of Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related disorders. N Engl J Med. 1986 Apr 3;314(14):874–879. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198604033141403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brunell P. A., Gershon A. A., Uduman S. A., Steinberg S. Varicella-Zoster Immunoglobulins during Varicella, Latency, and Zoster. J Infect Dis. 1975 Jul;132(1):49–54. doi: 10.1093/infdis/132.1.49. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Buimovici-Klein E., Lange M., Ong K. R., Grieco M. H., Cooper L. Z. Virus isolation and immune studies in a cohort of homosexual men. J Med Virol. 1988 Aug;25(4):371–385. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890250402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Clouse K. A., Robbins P. B., Fernie B., Ostrove J. M., Fauci A. S. Viral antigen stimulation of the production of human monokines capable of regulating HIV1 expression. J Immunol. 1989 Jul 15;143(2):470–475. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Drew W. L., Mills J., Lèvy J., Dylewski J., Casavant C., Ammann A. J., Brodie H., Merigan T. Cytomegalovirus infection and abnormal T-lymphocyte subset ratios in homosexual men. Ann Intern Med. 1985 Jul;103(1):61–63. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-1-61. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fauci A. S. The human immunodeficiency virus: infectivity and mechanisms of pathogenesis. Science. 1988 Feb 5;239(4840):617–622. doi: 10.1126/science.3277274. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Folks T. M., Clouse K. A., Justement J., Rabson A., Duh E., Kehrl J. H., Fauci A. S. Tumor necrosis factor alpha induces expression of human immunodeficiency virus in a chronically infected T-cell clone. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(7):2365–2368. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.7.2365. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Folks T., Kelly J., Benn S., Kinter A., Justement J., Gold J., Redfield R., Sell K. W., Fauci A. S. Susceptibility of normal human lymphocytes to infection with HTLV-III/LAV. J Immunol. 1986 Jun 1;136(11):4049–4053. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Friedland G. H. Early treatment for HIV: the time has come. N Engl J Med. 1990 Apr 5;322(14):1000–1002. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199004053221409. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gendelman H. E., Phelps W., Feigenbaum L., Ostrove J. M., Adachi A., Howley P. M., Khoury G., Ginsberg H. S., Martin M. A. Trans-activation of the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat sequence by DNA viruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Dec;83(24):9759–9763. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.24.9759. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gotlieb-Stematsky T., Meron I., Modan M., Sayar Y., Leventon-Kriss S., Fogel A., Gurewitz R., Insler V. Viral antibodies in maternal and cord sera. Med Microbiol Immunol. 1983;172(1):67–74. doi: 10.1007/BF02123679. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Handzel Z. T., Galili-Weisstub E., Burstein R., Berner Y., Pecht M., Netzer L., Trainin N., Barzilai N., Levin S., Bentwich Z. Immune derangements in asymptomatic male homosexuals in Israel: a pre-AIDS condition? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1984;437:549–553. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1984.tb37183.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hart C., Schochetman G., Spira T., Lifson A., Moore J., Galphin J., Sninsky J., Ou C. Y. Direct detection of HIV RNA expression in seropositive subjects. Lancet. 1988 Sep 10;2(8611):596–599. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)90639-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hirsch M. S., Schooley R. T., Ho D. D., Kaplan J. C. Possible viral interactions in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Rev Infect Dis. 1984 Sep-Oct;6(5):726–731. doi: 10.1093/clinids/6.5.726. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lai P. K., Li X., Volsky D. J. Induction of Epstein-Barr virus in B-lymphoblastoid cells by human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Int J Cancer. 1989 Jun 15;43(6):1104–1111. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910430625. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Laurence J. Molecular interactions among herpesviruses and human immunodeficiency viruses. J Infect Dis. 1990 Aug;162(2):338–346. doi: 10.1093/infdis/162.2.338. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Lin J. C., Zhang Z. X., Smith M. C., Biron K., Pagano J. S. Anti-human immunodeficiency virus agent 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine inhibits replication of Epstein-Barr virus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1988 Feb;32(2):265–267. doi: 10.1128/aac.32.2.265. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pagano J. S., Kenney S., Markovitz D., Kamine J. Epstein-Barr virus and interactions with human retroviruses. J Virol Methods. 1988 Sep;21(1-4):229–239. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(88)90069-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Partanen P., Seppänen H., Suni J., Vaheri A. Selective reactivity of antibodies to human immunoglobulins G, M, and A with rubella virus proteins. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 May;21(5):800–802. doi: 10.1128/jcm.21.5.800-802.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Porath A., Hanuka N., Keynan A., Sarov I. Virus-specific serum IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies in cytomegalovirus mononucleosis patients as determined by immunoblotting technique. J Med Virol. 1987 Jul;22(3):223–230. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890220305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Rahman M. A., Kingsley L. A., Breinig M. K., Ho M., Armstrong J. A., Atchison R. W., Lyter D. W., Rinaldo C. R., Jr Enhanced antibody responses to Epstein-Barr virus in HIV-infected homosexual men. J Infect Dis. 1989 Mar;159(3):472–479. doi: 10.1093/infdis/159.3.472. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Rinaldo C. R., Jr, Kingsley L. A., Lyter D. W., Rabin B. S., Atchison R. W., Bodner A. J., Weiss S. H., Saxinger W. C. Association of HTLV-III with Epstein-Barr virus infection and abnormalities of T lymphocytes in homosexual men. J Infect Dis. 1986 Oct;154(4):556–561. doi: 10.1093/infdis/154.4.556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Rosenberg Z. F., Fauci A. S. Immunopathogenic mechanisms of HIV infection. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1989 Jan;50(1 Pt 2):S149–S156. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(89)90122-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Rouse B. T., Horohov D. W. Immunosuppression in viral infections. Rev Infect Dis. 1986 Nov-Dec;8(6):850–873. doi: 10.1093/clinids/8.6.850. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Sarov I., Haikin H. Human cytomegalovirus specific IgA antibodies detected by immunoperoxidase assay in serum of patients with cytomegalovirus infections. J Virol Methods. 1983 Mar;6(3):161–169. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(83)90028-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Saxinger C., Gallo R. C. Methods in laboratory investigation. Application of the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay microtest to the detection and surveillance of human t cell leukemia-lymphoma virus. Lab Invest. 1983 Sep;49(3):371–377. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Skolnik P. R., Kosloff B. R., Hirsch M. S. Bidirectional interactions between human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and cytomegalovirus. J Infect Dis. 1988 Mar;157(3):508–514. doi: 10.1093/infdis/157.3.508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Towbin H., Staehelin T., Gordon J. Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4350–4354. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4350. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES