Another study links maternal EBV to acute leukemia in offspring

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Another study links maternal EBV to acute leukemia in offspring

Last Updated: 2007-01-26 11:06:34 -0400 (Reuters Health) By Rauscher

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of a new study provide more evidence

that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation may be associated with a

proportion of childhood leukemia. What that proportion this may be has yet

to be defined, researchers say.

In 2003, Dr. Matti Lehtinen from National Public Health Institute, Oulu,

Finland and colleagues identified an association between maternal EBV

reactivation, as defined by the presence of specific EBV viral capsid

antigen (VCA) IgM antibodies in serum, and the development of acute

lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in offspring.

In that study -- based on data from Finnish and Icelandic maternity cohorts

involving 550,000 mothers and their offspring -- EBV VCA IgM antibody

positivity was associated with a 2.9 adjusted odds ratio for ALL.

The result, however, " may have suffered from low sensitivity and specificity

regarding IgM determination, " Dr. Lehtinen and colleagues explain in the

January issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

To confirm EBV's role in ALL, they analyzed first-trimester serum samples of

mothers whose offspring later developed leukemia for antibodies to EBV early

antigen and the EBV transactivator ZEBRA protein, both indicators of EBV

reactivation.

Altogether, they analyzed sera from mothers of 304 ALL cases and 39 non-ALL

leukemia cases and 943 mothers of controls.

" We found some further confirmation to our (earlier) findings, suggesting an

association between maternal EBV infection and risk of leukemia in the

offspring, especially infants < 1 year of age, " Dr. Lehtinen told Reuters

Health.

Specifically, they found that EBV VCA IgM antibodies were associated with a

statistically significant relative risk of childhood ALL and non-ALL, with

odds ratios of 1.9 and 5.6, respectively.

Neither maternal EBV early antigen nor ZEBRA IgG antibodies were associated

with an increased relative risk of ALL. But both ZEBRA IgG antibodies and

VCA IgM antibodies were associated with an increased risk of non-ALL, with

odds ratios of 4.5 and 5.6, respectively, a finding that points to

reactivation of EBV in the mothers of non-ALL cases, the authors say.

" We are preparing for a four times larger study, which should verify or

falsify our observations, " Dr. Lehtinen told Reuters Health.

Am J Epidemiol 20067165:134-137.

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[Guest guest]

I find this interesting. I had EBV encephalitis, and

not many months after, my father came down w/acute

myeloblastic leukemia - starting w/'viral' signs, then

6 weeks later, diagnosed w/leukemia and living only

another 6 weeks after that. The following year,

several (4+?) people came down w/lupus in our small

church - an unheard of number. In 1984, this was, and

none of us had ever heard of Lupus.

I've always wondered if it was more than one virus

that hit, but also had always wondered if mono had had

something to do w/my father's leukemia.

--- Elyse Goldberg <elyse-g@...> wrote:

> Another study links maternal EBV to acute leukemia

> in offspring

>

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