The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Symptoms of acute Infectious Mononucleosis (IM), which develops after Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in half the cases, is strikingly like those of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (HL). This, combined with the findings that many patients with HL had a history of EBV and/or IM, triggered an interest in scientists to learn if the two were biochemically related. Many studies in this field unanimously concluded that the development of IM after EBV infection presented a higher risk of developing HL. However, whether this relationship is coincidental or pathological remains a matter of controversy until this day. In the last decade, there has been a lot of research and advances in this field. Various studies have looked at the correlation of EBV and HL considering age factors, genetic predispositions, and immunity and susceptibility dynamics. Researchers discovered that development of HL after EBV was most prevalent in young adults and old patients, pointing to immune system function, or lack thereof. It was also found to be more common in men, suggesting that this may be a sex-related disease. Specific genes activated or mutated in both EBV and HL have proposed that the development of HL after EBV/IM may be genetically regulated. By tracing geminal centre B cell replication patterns, EBV gene expression, and lytic cycle proteins, different mechanisms for the pathogenesis of HL from EBV were proposed. Various studies made use of statistics and patients’ medical records to make assumptions. Other methods employed in these studies included probe hybridization to extract DNA and RNA samples from tumor specimens, flow cytometry and polymerase chain reactions (PCR) to identify genetic sequences, and immunohistochemistry to study antigens specific to EBV and related diseases.
Recommended Citation
Cohen, R. (2019). Is There A Correlation Between Epstein - Barr Virus (Mononucleosis) and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?. The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences, 13(1). Retrieved from https://touroscholar.touro.edu/sjlcas/vol13/iss1/8
