Prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in tonsillar tissue from patients with chronic tonsillitis in Mexican population.

Luis Renee Gonzalez-Lucano,Gabriela Vazquez Vasquez-Armenta,Saul Ramirez-de los Santos,Ana Laura Pereira-Suarez,Adrian Ramirez-de Arellano,Edgar Ivan Lopez-Pulido

doi:10.3855/jidc.11424

Luis Renee Gonzalez-Lucano, Gabriela Vazquez Vasquez-Armenta + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.11424

Copy DOI

Abstract

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection prevails in underdeveloped and developing countries. The tonsils seem to be candidate replication sites for EBV and some studies have exposed a close association among viral infections and chronic tonsillitis. The objective of this study was identifying the EBV prevalence in Mexican patients who had undergone tonsillectomy because of chronic tonsillitis. Frozen tissues and medical records were obtained from 50 Mexican patients. DNA was extracted and subjected to PCR to amplify the EBER-2 region of EBV. Next, the patients were classified according to general and clinical characteristics searching a relation with the EBV-DNA positivity. EBV genome was detected in 46% (23/50) of the analysed tonsil tissues. Trends were found regarding the relationship of viral presence with lower values in terms of age (6.1 ± 2.8 vs 7.6 ± 3.7) , a greater degree of hypertrophy (3.5 ± 0.4 vs 3.0 ± 0.6) and an increase in the number of episodes of tonsillitis (11 ± 7.4 vs 9 ± 6.5). The prevalence found of EBV-DNA positivity in tonsillar tissues from patients diagnosed with chronic tonsillitis , supports the fact that palatine tonsils can be occupied by EBV and highlights the importance of conducting future studies focused on understanding the role of the EBV infection in chronic inflammatory processes in the population involved in this study.

Highlights

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection prevails in underdeveloped and developing countries
The tonsils seem to be candidate sites for EBV replication and some studies have exposed a close association among viral infections and tonsillitis [5,6,7]
Tonsillar hypertrophy grade was defined from I to IV according to the space they occupied of the oropharyngeal diameter: Grade I ( 025%), II (26-50%), III (51-75%) and IV (76-100%)

Summary

Introduction

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection prevails in underdeveloped and developing countries. The tonsils seem to be candidate replication sites for EBV and some studies have exposed a close association among viral infections and chronic tonsillitis. The objective of this study was identifying the EBV prevalence in Mexican patients who had undergone tonsillectomy because of chronic tonsillitis. Conclusions: The prevalence found of EBV-DNA positivity in tonsillar tissues from patients diagnosed with chronic tonsillitis , supports the fact that palatine tonsils can be occupied by EBV and highlights the importance of conducting future studies focused on understanding the role of the EBV infection in chronic inflammatory processes in the population involved in this study. The tonsils seem to be candidate sites for EBV replication and some studies have exposed a close association among viral infections and tonsillitis [5,6,7]. The downregulation of the lymphocytic function of palatine tonsils by viral infections would facilitate a secondary bacterial infection [8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion