Detection Rates of Epstein-Barr Virus from the Chronic Tonsillitis and Its Typing / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a DNA virus and a type of Herpes virus. Two different types of EBV exist based on the DNA sequence divergence of the EBV genome, and several differences exist between the two types. There are no reports about EBV detection rates and typings associated in chronic tonsillitis, despite the known fact that tonsil is one of the most common sites EBV resides. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of EBV infection in tonsils of children and adults as well as to compare the detection rates and the distribution of types of EBV in tonsillitis patients with normal controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Palatine tonsil tissues were obtained from seventy adults (20 normal controls and 50 chronic tonsillitis) and one hundred children. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), EBV genome was detected and typing was performed. We confirmed EBV by Southern blot hybridization and in situ hybridization. RESULTS: The detection rates of EBV in chronic tonsillitis of adults were higher than those in children with idiopathic tonsillar hypertrophy(ITH) and normal controls. The detection rates of type 1 EBV showed no differences among the four groups. The detection rates of type 2 EBV in ITH and chronic tonsillitis of adults and children were higher than those in the normal controls. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that tonsillitis is caused by EBV and that the type 2 EBV plays a more important role in tonsillitis.