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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2001, p. 3164-3170, Vol. 39, No. 9
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.9.3164-3170.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Antibody Responses to Recombinant Epstein-Barr Virus Antigens in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients: Complementary Test of ZEBRA Protein and Early Antigens p54 and p138

R. Dardari,1 W. Hinderer,2 D. Lang,2 A. Benider,3 B. El Gueddari,4 I. Joab,5 A. Benslimane,6 and M. Khyatti1,*

Institut Pasteur du Maroc,1 Centre d'Oncologie, CHU Averroes Ibn Rochd,3 and Centre d'Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie,6 Casablanca, and Institut National d'Oncologie, CHU Avicenne, Rabat,4 Morocco; Biotest AG, Research & Development, Dreieich, Germany2; and Institut de Génétique Moléculaire, Paris, France5

Received 20 November 2000/Returned for modification 20 March 2001/Accepted 30 May 2001

Serological tests based on the antibodies directed against the Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EA) and viral capsid antigen (VCA), which have been recognized as tumor markers for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), are routinely used to help in the diagnosis of this malignancy. The detection of these antibodies reveals very low titers, found only in a small proportion of young compared with older NPC patients. This is a problem for the diagnosis of NPC, especially among Maghrebians, among whom young people are also affected, and emphasizes the necessity to search for more reliable markers. The present study reports results of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA responses of NPC patients to recombinant EA antigens p54 (BMRF1) and p138 (BALF2), VCA complex antigens p18 (BFRF3) and p23 (BLRF2), and EBNA antigen p72 (BKRF1). Our results show that IgA-EA-p54 and -p138 (IgA-EA-p54+138) antibodies have a diagnostic value for detection of NPC (70%), compared with IgA-VCA-p18+23 and IgA-EBNA-p72, which have limited diagnostic value, especially in young patients. It is also noteworthy that IgA-EA-p54+138 can detect a high percentage (64%) of NPC cases negative by immunofluorescence. These results, however, clearly show that a single test cannot achieve the objective of detecting all NPC patients, and it seems advisable to combine different tests for the diagnosis of NPC. The combination of IgG-ZEBRA with IgA-EA-p54+138 improved the sensitivity of detection of NPC to 95% in the overall NPC population. The use of IgA-EA-p54+138 in combination with IgG-ZEBRA will facilitate detailed studies on the pattern of antibody response, which may result in the development of useful serological markers to guide the treatment of NPC.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Virologie, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Rue Abou Kacem Ez-Zahraoui, B.P. 120-Casablanca, Morocco. Phone: 212-22-26.94.24/27.57.78/27.52.06. Fax: 212-22-26.09.57. E-mail: ipm.khyatti{at}casanet.net.ma.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2001, p. 3164-3170, Vol. 39, No. 9
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.9.3164-3170.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.