Reed-Sternberg Research Articles

Reed-Sternberg cells and "bystander" lymphocytes in lymph nodes affected by Hodgkin's disease are infected with different strains of Epstein-Barr virus.

In most cases of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated Hodgkin's disease (HD), EBV-positive Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells and rare EBV-positive reservoir lymphocytes coexist in lymph nodes. Here we show that, in two cases of EBV-associated HD, strains infecting RS cells and reservoir lymphocytes of the same patient have different BNLF-1 genes. This suggests that RS cells and reservoir lymphocytes of the same patient are infected by different EBV strains.

Reed-Sternberg Cells and the TNF Family of Receptors/Ligands

Treatment of cancer with means other than chemo- and radiation therapy becomes more and more important. Through the better understanding of tumor biology approaches towards the cure of cancer interfering with the pathophysiological mechanisms of malignancy can be considered. Hodgkin's disease is a good example for the role of the immune system in cancer. The Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells, malignant cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD), are surrounded by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and still evade immunesurveillance. In this respect the importance of the superfamily of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors and ligands is becoming more and more clear. Ligand-receptor interaction either leads to death or survival signals. Many of these receptors and ligands are expressed by the RS cells and the surrounding lymphocytes. Their expression and function in HD are discussed and future directions for possible therapeutical investigations are proposed.

The role of eosinophils in the pathobiology of Hodgkin's disease

Even though the presence of a prominent tissue eosinophilia represents a common histopathologic feature of Hodgkin's disease (HD), eosinophils have been mainly regarded as 'innocent' bystanders recruited and activated during the cellular reaction typical of HD. To evaluate the putative role of eosinophils or eosinophil-derived cytokines on tumor-cell regulation in HD, we have analyzed these cells for the functional expression of surface ligands (L) of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, whose specific receptors are known to transduce proliferation signals at the surface of Hodgkin (H) and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. Eosinophils from peripheral blood of healthy donors and patients with HD, primary hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), or secondary hypereosinophilia (HE), were purified by density gradient centrifugation and immunomagnetic depletion of residual granulocytes. By immunostaining and mRNA analysis, we were able to show that eosinophils from normal donors and patients with HD, HES, and HE express a number of receptors and ligands of the TNF superfamily, including CD40, CD40L, CD30L, CD95/Fas, CD95/FasL and 4-1BB. In addition, we provide evidence that cytokines regulating eosinophil proliferation and activation, i.e., interleukin (IL)-5, IL-3, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, are able to enhance the cellular density of several TNF superfamily ligands and/or receptors at the surface of cultured eosinophils. Finally, we have shown that native CD40L and CD30L at the surface of purified eosinophils are functionally active and able to transduce proliferative signals on CD40+ and CD30+ target cells, including cultured H-RS cells. Our data suggest that eosinophils may act as important elements in the pathology of HD by providing cellular ligands for TNF-superfamily receptors (CD40, CD30, CD95/Fas) able to transduce proliferation and antiapoptotic signals at the surface of H-RS cells. The presence on eosinophils of receptors for TNF ligands expressed by activated T cells (i.e., OX40L, FasL, CD40L, 4-1BBL), also suggest that eosinophils may contribute to the deregulated network of interactive signals between H-RS cells, T cells, and other surrounding reactive cells.

Human Eosinophils Express Functional CD30 Ligand and Stimulate Proliferation of a Hodgkin's Disease Cell Line

The presence of a prominent tissue eosinophilia represents a typical histopathologic hallmark of Hodgkin's disease (HD). To evaluate the putative role of eosinophils on tumor cell regulation in HD, we have analyzed these cells for the functional expression of CD30 ligand (CD30L), a surface molecule able to transduce CD30-mediated proliferation signals on Hodgkin's (H) and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. The results demonstrate that circulating and tissue eosinophils from normal donors and patients with HD or hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), display CD30L mRNA and express CD30L protein, as shown by immunostaining with a specific monoclonal antibody (M80) and with a biotinylated soluble CD30-Fc fusion protein. The surface density of CD30L on eosinophils from HD and HES patients was remarkably higher compared with healthy donors, probably reflecting a cytokine-mediated upregulation in these pathologic conditions. Accordingly, we provide evidence that cytokines regulating eosinophils proliferation and activation, ie, interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-3, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), are able to enhance the cellular density of CD30L on purified eosinophils from normal subjects. Finally, we show that native CD30L on human eosinophils is a functionally active surface structure able to transduce proliferative signals on CD30+ target cells, including cultured H-RS cells. Our data suggest that eosinophils may not merely represent innocent bystanders, but rather act as important elements in the pathology of HD by contributing to the deregulated network of CD30/CD30L-mediated interactive signals between H-RS cells and surrounding reactive cells.

MDM2 AND p21WAF1CIP1, WILD‐TYPE p53‐INDUCED PROTEINS, ARE REGULARLY EXPRESSED BY STERNBERG–REED CELLS IN HODGKIN'S DISEASE

Mutations in the p53 tumour suppressor gene are the most common genetic alteration found in human cancers. Most of them are accompanied by stabilization of the protein, which renders it detectable through immunohistochemical techniques. Although p53 expression is a very common finding in Hodgkin's disease (HD), the status of the p53 gene is scarcely known, due to the difficulty in sequencing this gene in a lesion in which tumour cells are thought to constitute a very minor subpopulation, diluted in a background of supposedly benign cells. The pattern of expression of two downstream p53 proteins (MDM2 and p21was studied as an indirect way of assessing p53 gene status. MDM2 is a wild-p53 inducible protein which may form a complex with p53, abrogating its function, as has been found in human sarcomas and other malignancies. p21WAF1/CIP1 is another protein inducible by wild-type p53, involved in inhibiting cell-cycle progression, through binding to cyclin/cyclin-dependent-kinase complexes. MDM2 and p21WAF1/CIP1 immunostaining was detected in all the cases analysed, independently of histological type, and were mainly present in Sternberg–Reed and Hodgkin (H SR) cells. These immunohistochemical results were confirmed by Western blotting. To study the cause of MDM2 protein accumulation, MDM2 mRNA expression was also investigated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results show the presence of MDM2 transcripts in all cases of HD, albeit at lower levels than those found in reactive lymphoid tissue. These results seem to support the hypothesis that p53 is transcriptionally active in at least some of the H SR cells in HD, and is able to induce MDM2 and p21WAF1/CIP1 protein expression.

Phenotype, genotype and clonality of Reed-Sternberg cells in nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's disease: results of a single-cell study.

The genotype and clonality of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells in Hodgkin's disease (HD) has remained a controversial issue, largely due to the scarcity of RS cells in tissues and the limitations of the techniques used to resolve this issue. Southern hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using DNA extracted from tissues can only document clonal gene rearrangements, but do not indicate which cellular population is responsible for such rearrangements. To overcome the limitations of these previous techniques for studying the genotype and clonality of RS cells, we analysed single RS cells with a single-cell PCR assay to detect immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IgH) rearrangements and X-chromosome inactivation. Six cases of nodular sclerosis (NS) HD were studied. The RS cells displayed a B-cell phenotype in three cases and a null-cell phenotype in the other three cases. IgH rearrangements were detected in the RS cells of the three cases with a B-cell phenotype, but not in the other cases. In these three cases the IgH rearrangements in the RS cells were polyclonal, although a subpopulation of clonal RS cells was documented in one case. The finding that the RS cells with IgH rearrangements were not monoclonal was supported in one case by studying the pattern of X-chromosome inactivation in single RS cells by a single-cell human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) PCR assay. Our results indicate that NSHD begins as a polyclonal process in which a clonal RS cell population may arise; and that the RS cells in a subset of NSHD show evidence of B-lineage differentiation.

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Associated Lymphoproliferations in Severe Combined Immunodeficient Mice Transplanted With Hodgkin's Disease Lymph Nodes: Implication of EBV-Positive Bystander B Lymphocytes Rather Than EBV-Infected Reed-Sternberg Cells

To establish an in vivo model for the study of Hodgkin's disease and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells, 25 lymph node tissue samples involved by Hodgkin's disease were grafted into severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Ten Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated tumors were obtained in SCID mice. EBV-positive tumors growing in SCID mice were correlated with the presence of EBV-positive nonneoplastic B cells in patient tumors (90% v 26.6%; P<.01) and was independent of the EBV status of RS cells. Our results suggested that EBV-positive tumors growing in SCID mice originated from normal EBV-positive small lymphocytes (bystander B lymphocytes). We also compared the characteristics of these tumors with those obtained after transplantation of 15 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and four reactive lymph nodes. The latent period to observe a growing tumor in SCID mice was similar between the two groups (12.86 +/- 5.59 weeks for Hodgkin's disease v 13.6 +/- 5.36 weeks for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and reactive lymph nodes). The relatively high number of EBV-positive small lymphocytes detected in Hodgkin's disease and T-cell lymphoma compared with B-cell lymphoma may account for the greater percentage of EBV-positive tumors obtained in SCID mice. Our results show that SCID mice do not provide the growth conditions that are required for in vivo growth of RS cells. We noted in some SCID tumors, the presence of binucleated and/or multinucleated giant cells resembling RS cells. However, the presence of such cells was not restricted to mice grafted with lymph nodes involved by Hodgkin's disease. We postulate that in previous reports, cells resembling RS cells were just binucleated EBV-positive lymphoma blastoid cells rather than actual RS cells.

Epstein-Barr virus in Hodgkin's disease patients in Japan.

The association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Hodgkin's disease (HD) has been suggested by serologic, epidemiologic, and molecular biologic studies. The high level of EBV association with HD in the developing countries was discussed in relation to the high HD incidence in these areas. Japanese HD shows a distinct peak incidence in older adults. In contrast, Western HD shows a bimodal pattern, the first peak in young adulthood and a second peak in older patients. In the present study, the EBV association with HD in Japan was investigated, and the results were compared with those reported from industrialized and developing countries. Fifty-seven patients with HD were studied for the presence or absence of the EBV genome by the polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization methods. Seven cases were excluded from the analysis for EBV because of poor preservation of nucleotides in the specimens. EBV genomes were detected in the Reed-Sternberg (R-S) cells of 32 of the 50 patients examined (64%). The EBV association was independently affected by histologic subtype (84% in mixed cellularity and 44% in others), sex (76% in males and 31% in females), and age (76% in patients aged 40 years and older and 38% in patients younger than 40 years of age; P < 0.01). High EBV association is found at the peak in older adults predominantly with mixed cellularity type. Previous studies revealed that the high EBV was associated with the older peak of the bimodal peaks in Western HD, and a unimodal peak in childhood in developing countries. The EBV subtype was predominantly type A, which is identical to the immunocompetent type of HD reported previously. The results of the current study, together with those reported previously, showed that the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus correlated with mixed cellularity type, age older than 40 years, and male sex.

Hodgkin's disease variant of Richter's syndrome: experience at a single institution.

Patients developing Hodgkin's disease (HD) after a diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), are frequently included in a series of patients with Richter's syndrome (RS). We sought to determine the natural history of the association of CLL and HD. Over a 21 year period, 1374 patients with CLL have been registered in our computer data base. Seven cases of CLL and HD have been documented and confirmed. The median age of these patients was 71 years (range 44-77) and clinical features included male gender (86%), B symptomatology (86%), rapidly progressive lymphadenopathy (71%), prior CLL therapy (71%), advanced Ann Arbor stage (86%), marrow involvement with HD (43%), and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (29%). HD was documented by excisional lymph node biopsy in six cases and splenectomy in one. Mixed cellularity HD was shown in six and nodular sclerosis in one. Five of the biopsies revealed intervening areas consistent with small lymphocytic lymphoma. The Sternberg-Reed (SR) cells were CD15+ in 6/7 cases, and Ki-1+ in the 6 patients tested. CD45 and CD20 staining of the SR cells was nonreactive. The median time to development of HD was 45 months (range 0 to 96). The overall responses to different chemotherapy regimens was approximately 25% with only one CR. Six patients have died at 3, 9, 10, 13, 15 and 36 months and one patient is alive with progressive disease at 11 months. Our data suggests that CLL patients have a heightened risk for HD, features of advanced HD on presentation, and a poor response rate with short survival.

Hodgkin's disease of Waldeyer's ring. Clinical and histoimmunophenotypic findings and association with Epstein-Barr virus in 16 cases.

Waldeyer's ring is an uncommon, rarely reported primary site for Hodgkin's disease. We report a series of 16 such cases culled from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the National Cancer Institute. The patients' median age was 41 years (range, 14-74), and they presented with airway obstruction or unilateral tonsillar enlargement. The disease was localized to the Waldeyer's ring (stage I) in 46% of patients and extended to the cervical lymph nodes (stage II) in 39% and to the spleen (stage III) in 15%. Local radiation therapy, with or without chemotherapy, obtained a complete response in all but two patients. There was local recurrence in one patient and distant spread in three others. All patients for whom follow-up is available are alive without evidence of disease at 9 to 216 months (median, 20 months) except two who died of widespread Hodgkin's disease and two others who died of other causes. Histologically, eight cases were classified as mixed cellularity type (50%), four as nodular sclerosis (25%), and one as lymphocyte predominance, nodular (LPn; 6.3%); three others that showed interfollicular involvement were unclassified (18.7%). The Reed-Sternberg (RS) and atypical mononuclear cells in most cases of mixed cellularity and interfollicular types and all cases of nodular sclerosis had the classic immunophenotype (CD45-, CD20- and/or CD45RO-, CD15+ and/or CD30+). In the single case of LPn, they were of B-cell lineage (CD45+, CD20+, CD45RO-, CD15-, CD30-). In situ hybridization performed on routinely processed sections revealed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBER1 mRNA in RS cells of eight of 12 cases studied (67%) only in mixed cellularity and nodular sclerosis, but not in LPn. We conclude that, however rarely, Hodgkin's disease of typical morphology and immunophenotype can originate in Waldeyer's ring. The incidence of EBV detection in the RS cells in our study is greater than that usually seen in nodal Hodgkin's disease in the United States. The greater prevalence of EBV-related Hodgkin's disease at this site is probably a reflection of the fact that the Waldeyer's ring is a reservoir for EBV.

Presence of Epstein-Barr Virus and Strain Type Assignment in Argentine Childhood Hodgkin’s Disease

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated in the etiology of a large number of malignancies. Most recently several studies have linked EBV to Hodgkin's disease. In this report, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were collected retrospectively from 41 children with Hodgkin's disease treated at our hospital. Lymph node biopsies were examined for the presence of two virus-encoded latent proteins: latent membrane protein (LMP) and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-2 (EBNA-2), in Reed-Sternberg (RS) and Hodgkin (H) cells, by peroxidase immunolabeling. Nonisotopic Epstein-Barr encoded RNAs (EBERs) in situ hybridization was also performed and positive labeling in malignant cells was detected. Twenty specimens were EBER+/LMP+, 2 were EBER+/LMP-, and 19 were EBER-/LMP-. However, none of the 41 cases expressed EBNA-2. Twenty-two of 41 (54%) cases were EBV positive including 2 of 6 with lymphocyte predominance, 19 of 25 with mixed cellularity, 0 of 9 with nodular sclerosis, and 1 of 1 with lymphocyte depletion. In the age range of 2 to 6 years, 14 of 17 (82%) samples were EBV-positive, whereas only 8 of 24 (33%) samples from the age range of 7 to 15 years contained EBV. (P = .004), a two-tailed Fisher's test). In 17 samples, polymerase chain reaction amplification was performed using strain specific primers for exon sequences of the EBNA-3C gene of EBV. From 12 positive samples, 8 contained EBV-A and 4 EBV-B. These results support the hypothesis that EBV contributes to the pathogenesis of pediatric Hodgkin's disease, particularly in mixed cellularity Hodgkin's disease and in the younger group.

Human immunodeficiency virus-associated Hodgkin's disease contains latent, not replicative, Epstein-Barr virus

Severe immunodeficiency is associated with reactivation of latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that is manifested by virus replication. It is unknown whether EBV replication also occurs in the Hodgkin's disease (HD) tissue of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Therefore, we studied paraffin-embedded lymph nodes from 13 cases of HIV-associated HD to determine the latent or replicative state of EBV infection. All patients were seropositive HIV-infected men; additional clinical information was available for 12 patients. The risk factor(s) for HIV infection were homosexuality ( n = 7), intravenous drug abuse ( n = 2), homosexuality and intravenous drug abuse ( n = 1), sexual promiscuity ( n = 1), or hemophilia ( n = 1). Advanced clinical stage and B symptoms were common at the time of initial diagnosis of HD. The histological subtype of Hodgkin's disease was universally mixed cellularity, except for a single case classified as nodular sclerosis. Seven cases exhibited foci of relative lymphoid depletion. Five cases contained foci of necrosis. ReedSternberg (RS) cells and RS cell variants were positive for CD30/ BerH2 and negative for CD45/LCA, CD45RO/UCHL1, and CD20/ L26 in all cases. Tumor cells were positive for CD15/LeuMl in seven cases. In all 13 cases, RS cells and RS cell variants were infected by latent EBV as shown by in situ hybridization to EBV-encoded ribonucleic acid (EBER1). In 12 of 13 cases neoplastic cells coexpressed EBV latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1). EBV replication was examined by two different methods: immunohistochemistry to identify EBV-encoded BZLF1 protein and in situ hybridization to detect EBV BHLF1 transcripts. No positivity in RS or RS cell variants was detected with either assay of EBV replication (95% confidence interval [ci]= 0% to 23%). The findings confirm that EBV is detected more frequently in HIV-associated HD when compared with immunocompetent patients with HD. The findings also suggest that EBV is tightly latent within RS and RS cell variants of HIV-associated HD. It appears that factors other than host immune status are important in maintaining EBV latency in HIV-associated HD.

Hematopathology Section

We describe four cases of Hodgkin's disease that presented histologically as purely follicular lesions. The Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells were of classic and lacunar type and had the phenotype of usual Hodgkin's disease (CD30 and CD15 positive) but also expressed B-cell antigens (CD20 and CD79a). In each case the follicles consisted principally of mantle-zone B cells, which enclosed the RS cells; the follicle centres were atrophic, usually eccentrically placed, and did not contain RS cells. Fifteen cases of typical nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's disease were reviewed in parallel. B-cell antigen expression by RS cells was found in 10 cases (66%), and RS cells were present in follicular mantles in 10 cases. These findings suggest that some RS cells may be derived from B cells in the follicular mantle.

Lymphoma of uncertain phenotype

In February 1987, a 42-year-old Caucasian man was referred to our department with symptoms of left recurrent nerve palsy and a 12-month history of lymphadenopathy involving both sides of the neck, the axillae and the anterior mediastinum. Previous neck node biopsies taken in September 1986 had shown evidence of lymphoid hyperplasia consistent with reactive lymphadenitis, and follicular and parafollicular hyperplasia was diagnosed. His past medical history included two episodes of transient transverse myelitis, in 1973 and 1980. He had suffered from nasal sinus polyposis with chronic sinusitis since infancy. Further biopsies of neck nodes were taken and showed pleomorphic malignant cells infiltrating the interfollicular areas as well as several Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. The diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease (HD), interfollicular type, was made and confirmed by external expert review (Fig. la). The RS cells were CD30+ (Fig. lb), CD15+, leukocyte common antigen (LCA)-, CD3-. In the perifollicular zone, small T lymphocytes formed rosette-like arrangements around the RS cells. The Ann Arbor clinical stage was IIA. The only blood abnormality was a monocytosis at 1.4 × 109/L (N<0.8×l09). Because of the history of transverse myelitis, the patient was not considered suitable for radiotherapy and he received 3 courses of combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin, bleomycin, etoposide and prednisone, leading to partial remission, followed by 3 further courses of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone. A complete clinical remission was obtained in November 1987.

Clonal VDJ Recombination of the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Gene by PCR in Classical Hodgkin’s Disease

Although Hodgkin's disease (HD) has been a subject of much investigation, fundamental questions remain unanswered regarding its lineage and clonality. The authors used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to investigate whether clonal Variable-Diversity-Joining recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) chain gene, a phenomenon that characterizes clonal B-cell proliferations, exists in nodular sclerosing (NSHD) and mixed cellularity (MCHD) Hodgkin's disease (so-called "classical" Hodgkin's disease). The isolation of DNA from paraffin-embedded tissue sections allowed for direct correlation of PCR results with the cell populations that were analyzed. Thirty-two cases were studied. These included 12 cases in which the Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells expressed the B-cell antigen, CD20, and 10 cases that were classified as syncytial variant of NSHD (3 CD20+, 7 B-cell antigen negative). Overall, clonal patterns of VDJ PCR products were found in 14 of 32 (44%) cases. These clonal patterns were identified in 7 of 12 (58%) cases of CD20+ classical HD and in 7 of 20 (35%) cases of B-antigen-negative classical HD. Clonal patterns were found in 3 of 10 cases of syncytial variant of NSHD, including 2 of 3 (67%) CD20+ cases and 1 of 7 (14%) B-cell antigen-negative cases. The results of this study provide support that a subset of HD represents a clonal B-cell neoplasm, and indicate that clonal IgH VDJ sequences are more frequently found in CD20+ HD.

Case clustering, Epstein-Barr virus Reed-Sternberg cell status and herpes virus serology in Hodgkin's disease: results of a case-control study.

The Leukaemia Research Fund Data Collection Study (DCS) is a specialist registry of leukaemias and lymphomas. The present study involves 494 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) registered with the DCS between 1985 and 1989. This entire data set has been tested for localised spatial clustering using an established nearest neighbour method with 18% of all cases in young people classified as clustered (P < 0.05). No clustering was found in older cases. Subsamples were selected from the registered cases for a pilot study in which case clustering, herpes virus antibody titres and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) presence within the Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells (EBV-RS status) were investigated together. Firstly, a case-control study of HD in young people or nodular sclerosing (NS) subtype (39 HD cases and 26 healthy controls) found significant elevation of antibody titres to EBV-viral capsid antigen (VCA), EBV-early antigen (EA) and human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) in HD cases compared with controls. EBV viral genome was present in 5 cases and 4 of these were in clusters of HD in young people. Elevation of antibody titres to the EBV antigens was not associated with case clustering or EBV-RS status. Antibody titres to HHV-6 differed significantly between EBV-RS+ and EBV-RS- cases (P = 0.04). Geometric mean titres for HHV-6 for EBV-RS+ and EBV-RS- cases were 11.5 and 73.7, respectively, with the former lower than the control value of 20.5. Secondly, a cluster study included all other cases (n = 14) in clusters containing known EBV-RS+ cases. 3 further cases were EBV-RS+ positive but no cluster consisted entirely of positive cases. Overall, 5/16 clustered, 2/12 peripheral and 1/25 random cases in these studies were EBV-RS+ (P = 0.017). The interpretation of these results in terms of shared aetiological exposures of cases within clusters and the roles of EBV and HHV-6 is discussed, and hypotheses for testing in future studies proposed.

Human and viral interleukin-10 in Hodgkin's disease, and its influence on CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is closely related to Hodgkin's disease (HD), while the BCRF-I (viral [v] IL-10) gene of the EBV is highly homologous to the human interleukin-10 (h IL-10) gene. To investigate the relationship of IL-10 and HD, we performed both immunostaining and in situ hybridization (ISH) in 30 cases of HD. The presence of EBV in Hodgkin (H) and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells was seen in 16 of the 30 cases, by ISH of the EBV EBER-I region and/or immunostaining of latent membrane protein (LMP-I). Of the 16 EBV-positive cases, 12 also showed IL-10 antigen (Ag) in H and RS cells by immunostaining, 5 of the 16 demonstrated hIL-10 RNA by ISH and 14 of the 16 showed vIL-10 RNA. But only 2 of the 14 EBV-negative cases showed IL-10 Ag, and one of them showed hIL-10 RNA, while none demonstrated vIL-10 RNA. The T cells in the HD-involved tissues were found to be mainly CD4-positive T cells, and had no association with EBV infection. However, the lymphocytes surrounding H and RS cells were more frequently CD4 cells and rarely CD8 cells in the EBV-positive cases, in contrast with the EBV-negative cases. The above results indicate that an EBV infection influenced both cytokine synthesis and the response of T cells in HD.

Expression of Hodgkin's disease associated antigen BLA.36 in anaplastic large cell lymphomas and lymphomatoid papulosis primarily of T-cell origin.

Monoclonal antibody BLA.36 stains Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells and their mononuclear variants, as well as some benign and malignant cells of B-cell lineage, and retains its immunoreactivity in formalin- and B5-fixed tissue. The origin of the RS cell is controversial and the distinction between Hodgkin's disease (HD), anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), and lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) (the latter two primarily T-cell in origin), can be difficult. The authors studied expression of BLA.36 in 22 cases of ALCL, 13 cases of LyP, and 15 cases of HD. Most atypical or malignant cells stained for BLA.36 in 10 of 22 cases of ALCL, 9 of 13 cases of LyP, and 9 of 15 cases of HD. Additional immunohistochemistry or gene rearrangement analysis indicated a T-cell origin for 8 of 10 BLA.36 positive ALCL, and 9 of 9 BLA.36 positive LyP cases. BLA.36 was expressed by T-cell lines derived from two ALCLs and one CD30+ cell line derived from LyP. The authors conclude that BLA.36 is not specific for lymphomas of B-cell origin and cannot be used to distinguish between HD, ALCL, and LyP with RS-like cells. These results further support a relationship between HD, ALCL, and LyP and suggest that RS cells are histogenetically related to both B- and T-lymphocytes.

SBH-1, a Novel Reed-Sternberg-Like Cell Line Capable of Inducing Tumors in SCID Mice: Immunophenotypic, Cytogenetic, and Cytokine Expression Profiles

A new cell line, SBH-1, with the morphologic, immunophenotypic, and karyotypic features consistent with those of Reed-Sternberg (RS) and Hodgkin (H) cells, has been established from the pleural effusion of a patient. The cytologic appearance of SBH-1 cells is characteristic of multinucleate RS and mononuclear H cells, all containing inclusion-like nucleoli. The SBH-1 cells express CD30, CD15, CD25, CD71, CD45, CD20, CD22, and bcl-2 protein and are negative for epithelial membrane antigen. Cytogenetic analysis showed multiple clonal abnormalities with breakpoints at 14q32, 6q21, and 11q23. The Ig heavy chain genes and both Ig light chain genes were rearranged in SBH-1 cells, whereas the bcl-2 gene was in germline configuration. Messages for the cytokines interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta and the cytokine receptors IL-2R, IL-4R, IL-6R, and IL-7R were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. Xenotransplantation of SBH-1 cells into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice led to local and disseminated tumor growth. The cytologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical features of SBH-1 cells in SCID mouse tumors were typical of RS and H cells. The SBH-1 cell line will be useful in the study of RS and H cell biology, inasmuch as it represents a cell line obtained from a previously untreated patient.

Additional evidence that Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD) are clonal

Additional evidence that Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD) are clonal