Elevated immunofluorescence antibody titers to several herpesviruses in Burkitt's lymphoma patients: are high titers unique?

Antibody titers for viral capsid antigens of all four human herpesviruses were measured by immunofluorescence in the sera of 16 Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) PATIENTS, 16 AGE-, SEX-, AND LOCALITY-MATCHED CONTROLS, AND 136 FAMILY MEMBERS FROM THE West Nile District of Uganda. Among family members, titers greater than 1:4 were found in 98% for herpes simplex virus (HSV), 86% for varicella-zoster virus (VZV), 100% FOR CYTOMEGALOVIRUS (CMV), AND 94% FOR Epstein-Barr (EBV). Titers in patients averaged approximately equal to 2 logs (fourfold) higher than those in matched controls for EBV, VZV, and CMV (P EQUALS 0.001); titers for HSV were only slightly higher in cancer patients. The mothers of patients had someuhat higher EBV titers (0.05 smaller than or equal to P SMALLER THAN OR EQUAL TO 0.01) than the mothers of controls, but no other differences between patient and control families were found. By immunofluorescence, a method which apparently has not been used for all four human herpesviruses in BL patients, the patients had elevated antibody titers not only to EBV but also to CMV and VZV. The elevated titers to three of the four human herpesviruses were not due to serologic cross reactions.