Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay of Antibodies to Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear and Early Antigens in Patients with Infectious Mononucleosis and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

doi:10.1059/0003-4819-104-3-331

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay of Antibodies to Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear and Early Antigens in Patients with Infectious Mononucleosis and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

JESSICA HALPRIN, M.S.;
ALAN L. SCOTT, Ph.D.;
LISA JACOBSON, M.S.;
PAUL H. LEVINE, M.D.;
J. H. C. HO, M.D.;
JAMES C. NIEDERMAN, M.D.;
S. DIANE HAYWARD, Ph.D.; and
GREGORY MILMAN, Ph.D.

Baltimore and Bethesda, Maryland; Kowloon, Hong Kong; and New Haven, Connecticut

Abstract

A sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure titers of IgG antibodies against bacterially synthesized Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen and early antigen in sera from 100 healthy North Americans, 40 North American patients with infectious mononucleosis, and 48 Asian patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. All healthy persons previously infected with Epstein-Barr virus had antibodies to nuclear antigen, and 70% had very low but detectable antibody titers to early antigen. In contrast, patients with mononucleosis had nondetectable or very low levels of antibodies to nuclear antigen and high antibody levels to early antigen. High levels of antibody to early antigen also were seen in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and a decrease in this response during the first 12 months after diagnosis and treatment was a significant prognostic indicator of survival. The probability of survival was 75% for patients whose antibody concentration to early antigen remained constant or decreased, and near 0% for patients with increasing levels of antibody.

Article and Author Information

▸From the Departments of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology, and Biochemistry, School of Hygiene and Public Health, and Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Molecular Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland; Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong; and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Grant support: by grants ES03131 and GM 32950 (Dr. Milman) by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; grant AI22775 (Dr. Scott) by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and grant CA37314 (Dr. Hayward) by the National Cancer Institute.
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Gregory Milman, Ph.D.; Department of Biochemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street; Baltimore, MD 21205.