Tissue specific distribution of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BZLF1 gene variants in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) bearing patients.

Using EBV BNLF1 gene polymorphism, we have recently shown that, in NPC bearing patients, lymphocytes and tumor cells of the same individual were infected by different viruses. It appeared as a rule that EBV infection was by multiple strains in these immunocompetent, HIV negative patients. Our data did not detect any evident association between tumor cells and a particular BNLF1 variant.

Nosocomial outbreak of influenza virus A (H3N2) infection in a solid organ transplant department.

Background: There is a strong body of evidence in favor of influenza virus immunization in solid organ recipients. However, little attention has been devoted to other reservoirs, such as the patients' relatives and, at the time of hospital admission, to the healthcare workers.

Methods: Analysis of the epidemiology of an outbreak of nosocomial influenza A in a solid organ transplant unit.

In nasopharyngeal carcinoma-bearing patients, tumors and lymphocytes are infected by different Epstein-Barr virus strains.

Despite the fact that most adult humans worldwide are latently infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), only a very small percentage of them will develop an EBV-associated malignancy. We do not know whether this situation reflects the existence of more sensitive individuals or of particularly tumorigenic EBV strains. We postulated that if highly tumorigenic EBV strains did exist, they would be preferentially found in consistently EBV-associated tumors, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and differ significantly from the strains present in other, non-pathological sites of the same patients.

JC virus genotypes in France: molecular epidemiology and potential significance for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

JC virus (JCV) induces progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), especially in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Although JCV genotypes have primarily been associated with geographic patterns, a distinctive neuropathogenicity was recently attributed to genotype 2. A multicenter study was conducted to describe the distribution of JCV genotypes in France and to investigate correlations between genotypes and PML.

Genomic variations in echovirus 30 persistent isolates recovered from a chronically infected immunodeficient child and comparison with the reference strain.

Seven sequential isolates of echovirus type 30 (EV30) were recovered over 22 months from a child with severe combined immune deficiency syndrome. The nucleotide sequences of the 5' halves of the genomes (4,400 nucleotides) of the first (S1) and last (S7) isolates were determined and compared with that of the EV30 Bastianni reference strain, also determined in this study. In genome regions P1 and P2, 101 variations were identified between the two isolates.

[Chickenpox in pregnancy].

Chickenpox is rare during pregnancy (1 to 7 per 10,000). The infection can be severe for the mother and indirectly may affect the fetus. Before 20 weeks of amenorrhea, the varicella-zoster virus may be responsible for a rare embryofetopathy (incidence rate: 0.

High Epstein-Barr virus serum load and elevated titers of anti-ZEBRA antibodies in patients with EBV-harboring tumor cells of Hodgkin's disease.

Hodgkin's disease is commonly associated with EBV latent infection. The incidence of EBV reactivation (active infection or EBV infection with replicative cycle) was evaluated in a series of 30 patients with untreated Hodgkin's disease (except for one case with chronic lymphocytic leukemia) by quantitation of EBV DNA and titration of anti-ZEBRA antibodies in serum samples. DNA was detected in serum (>2.

Prevalence of JC virus viraemia in HIV-infected patients with or without neurological disorders: a prospective study.

Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a severe demyelinating disease, which is rapidly fatal and is due to JC virus (JCV) infection, which especially occurs in HIV-infected patients. To investigate JCV pathophysiology and to evaluate the predictive value of JCV detection in blood, we looked for JCV DNA in leukocytes and plasma of 96 patients without any neurological symptoms and 109 patients with neurological diseases, among whom 19 were suffering from PML. JCV genome was detected in about 18% of all patients, i.

Efficacy and safety of lamivudine on replication of recurrent hepatitis B after cadaveric renal transplantation.

Background: The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of lamivudine therapy in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive/DNA-positive renal transplant recipients.

Methods: Six HBV DNA-positive cadaveric renal transplant recipients ranging in age from 49+/-6 years were administered lamivudine, at 100 mg/day for a period of at least 6 months, on a compassionate-use basis. Lamivudine is the (-) enantiomer of 3'-thiacytidine, which is known to be a potent inhibitor of HBV replication.

[Is laryngeal papillomatosis always juvenile?].

After recording an increased frequency of adult-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, the authors propose a multicentric investigation. The aim of the investigation is to determinate the frequency of the new cases and their clinical form. The preliminary results confirm the increased frequency of the adult-onset form and show the possibility of a clinical form change.

CMV prophylaxis in high-risk renal transplant patients (D+/R-) by acyclovir with or without hyperimmune (CMV) immunoglobulins: a prospective study.

In this prospective randomized study including 28 patients, we show that, in cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seronegative renal transplant recipients (R-) receiving a CMV-seropositive graft (D+), high doses of acyclovir (ACV, i.e. 3,200 mg/day) during the first 3 months after transplantation were as efficient as hyperimmune CMV immunoglobulins (CMV Igs) plus high doses of ACV regarding the prophylaxis of CMV primoinfection.

Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus and correlation with liver disease in renal transplant patients.

We studied the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in 350 renal transplant (RT) patients with a functioning graft. The determination of HCV infection was based upon second-generation ELISA tests (ELISA-2, Abbott) confirmed by second-generation RIBA tests (RIBA-2, Chiron), including the proteins C22-3, C100-3, C33-C and 5-11. Three hundred and sixteen of these RT patients were on ciclosporin A (CsA) therapy with or without steroids (CS) and azathioprine (AZA); 34 received conventional immunosuppression.

Intra-uterine fetal death following maternal varicella infection.

The association of varicella and pregnancy is very rare since 90% of women of reproductive age are immune. In the literature, a fetal varicella syndrome has been described characterized by multiple congenital malformations. We report here a case of intrauterine fetal death following maternal varicella at 17 weeks amenorrhea, with virological proof of fetal contamination.

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver. Evidence for follicular dendritic reticulum cell proliferation associated with clonal Epstein-Barr virus.

We describe an "inflammatory pseudotumor" of the liver that, which on detailed investigation, proved that the spindle-cell component of this lesion is derived from follicular dendritic reticulum cells (FDRC). This contention is supported by morphologic observations and by immunophenotype. The FDRC population contain Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

Measurement by the polymerase chain reaction of the Epstein-Barr virus load in infectious mononucleosis and AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) sequences in various clinical samples, especially peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and serum, was carried out and the results obtained were compared with specific EBV serology. One hundred seventy patients were enrolled in the study: 89 healthy blood donors, 22 asymptomatic patients, 36 individuals with primary EBV infection (including 19 patients with infectious mononucleosis [IM]), 22 HIV-infected subjects (including 4 with hairy oral leukoplakia, 3 with central nervous disorders, and 15 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). All the serum samples from the healthy blood donors were negative.

[Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with cytomegalovirus infection after kidney transplantation].

The Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with cytomegalovirus infection is a recognized entity of unknown pathogenesis. We observed two characteristic cases with acute polyradiculoneuropathy which occurred after renal transplantation. Both patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for Guillain-Barré syndrome: tetraparesis with diffuse areflexia and moderate sensorial signs, high protein level in cerebrospinal fluid without cellular reaction, slow or blocked nerve conduction and partial cure after several months delay.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) replicative gene expression in tumour cells of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in relation to CD4 cell number and antibody titres to EBV.

Objective: To determine whether activation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) replication in tumour cells of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (ARNHL) is correlated with CD4+ cell counts and influences antibody response to EBV [anti-Z Epstein-Barr replicative activator (ZEBRA), anti-early antigen (EA), anti-viral capsid antigen (VCA)].

Design: Retrospective study based on immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to detect EBV replicative gene products in tissue samples from patients affected by ARNHL and correlation with CD4+ cell counts and results of EBV serology (including anti-ZEBRA activity) in sera from the same patients.

Methods: Seventeen out of 22 cases of ARNHL were selected for the presence of EBV [Epstein-Barr early region (EBER) RNA-positive].

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis by acyclovir in pre-transplant CMV-positive renal transplant recipients.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections, either primoinfection or reactivation, remain an important problem in organ transplantation. We therefore designed a prospective study in which pre-transplant CMV-positive renal transplant (RT) patients were randomized to receive for 3 months starting immediately after transplantation either acyclovir or nothing. Between April 1992 and January 1993, 53 cadaveric renal transplantations were performed in our institution.

Detection of Epstein-Barr virus messenger RNA in Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease by in situ hybridization with biotinylated probes on specially processed modified acetone methyl benzoate xylene (ModAMeX) sections.

Microscopic intracellular detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) messenger RNA in Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD) was possible by in situ hybridization, in tissue sections prepared by a method termed modified acetone methyl benzoate xylene (ModAMeX). The ModAMeX method was initially developed for simultaneous optimal preservation of leucocyte differentiation antigens and morphology. Two biotinylated DNA probes, corresponding to the same BamHI-W (internal repeat) of the EBV genome were used.

Identification of a novel EBV-induced membrane glycoprotein of 43 kDa with H667 MAb.

Using purified B95-8 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a MAb designated H667 was produced. We demonstrated by indirect membrane immunofluorescence (IF) on six EBV producer cell lines and by immunoelectron microscopy that H667 reacted with a membrane antigen. H667 recognized a 43-kDa EBV protein (p43) as determined by immunoblotting using purified EBV from the six producer cell lines.

[Maternofetal infection with human parvovirus B19. Apropos of 2 cases].

Two cases of maternal-fetal human parvovirus B19 infection are reported. The first case involved a feto-placental anasarca occurring during the third trimester and complicated by in-utero death with expulsion of a fetus with multiple malformations. The second case involved meconial peritonitis during the second trimester with favourable outcome after cesarean section and resolution of the digestive syndrome.