[Association of Epstein-Barr virus and Hodgkin's disease: comparison between Algerian and French patients].

The prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) markers in nodal lesions from Algerian (Al) patients (n = 47) was compared to French (Fr) patients (n = 21) with Hodgkin's disease. Initial characteristics were: males Fr 57%, Al 53%; median age Fr 29, Al 26; histologic subtypes: lymphocytic predominance (LP) Fr 1, Al 2; nodular sclerosis (NS) Fr 16, Al 19; mixed cellularity (MC) Fr 4, Al 12; lymphocytic depletion (LD) Al 2. The latent membrane protein (LMP) was expressed in Reed-Sternberg cells (RSC) in 16 Al (4 NS, 12 MC) and 4 Fr (2 NS, 2 MC) cases. All LMP-positive cases were also positive by DNA or RNA in situ hybridization (ISH). ISH was positive in RSC of 29% of Fr and 66% of Al patients (p < 0.02); the positivity was more frequent in MC (80%) than in other histologic types (39%). EBV genome was detected by PCR on DNA extracted from frozen samples in 84% of Fr and 95% of Al patients (100% of MC and 86% of other histologic types). The discrepancy between PCR and ISH results can be due to a lesser sensitivity of the latter technique, or, alternatively, to the presence of EBV in lymphoid cells surrounding RSC. ISH positivity was more frequent in young Al adults than in Fr ones. This more pronounced HD-EBV link in patients from a developing country compared with an industrialized one can result from the age at primary EBV infection, which occurs earlier in Algeria than in France.