Distribution and Molecular Characterization of Human Adenovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus Infections in Tonsillar Lymphocytes Isolated from Patients Diagnosed with Tonsillar Diseases

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 5; p. e0154814
• Main Authors: Assadian, Farzaneh, Sandström, Karl, Bondeson, Kåre, Laurell, Göran, Lidian, Adnan, Svensson, Catharina, Akusjärvi, Göran, Bergqvist, Anders, Punga, Tanel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 02-05-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adenovirus; Adenovirus infections; Adenovirus Infections, Human - diagnosis; Adenoviruses; Adenoviruses, Human - pathogenicity; Adolescent; Adult; Antigens, CD20 - metabolism; Biochemistry; Biology and Life Sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Complications and side effects; Copy number; Cytomegalovirus; Cytomegalovirus - pathogenicity; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diagnosis; DNA; Enrichment; Epidemiology; Epstein-Barr virus; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - diagnosis; Eutrophication; Female; Genotype; Human adenovirus; Human cytomegalovirus; Humans; Hypertrophy; Immune system; Infant; Infections; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - virology; Lymphocytes B; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Otolaryngology; Palatine Tonsil - virology; Patients; People and Places; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; Sleep apnea; Surgery; Throat surgery; Tonsillitis; Tonsillitis - virology; Viruses; Young Adult; Sweden
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154814

Surgically removed palatine tonsils provide a conveniently accessible source of T and B lymphocytes to study the interplay between foreign pathogens and the host immune system. In this study we have characterised the distribution of human adenovirus (HAdV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in purified tonsillar T and B cell-enriched fractions isolated from three patient age groups diagnosed with tonsillar hypertrophy and chronic/recurrent tonsillitis. HAdV DNA was detected in 93 out of 111 patients (84%), while EBV DNA was detected in 58 patients (52%). The most abundant adenovirus type was HAdV-5 (68%). None of the patients were positive for HCMV. Furthermore, 43 patients (39%) showed a co-infection of HAdV and EBV. The majority of young patients diagnosed with tonsillar hypertrophy were positive for HAdV, whereas all adult patients diagnosed with chronic/recurrent tonsillitis were positive for either HAdV or EBV. Most of the tonsils from patients diagnosed with either tonsillar hypertrophy or chronic/recurrent tonsillitis showed a higher HAdV DNA copy number in T compared to B cell-enriched fraction. Interestingly, in the majority of the tonsils from patients with chronic/recurrent tonsillitis HAdV DNA was detected in T cells only, whereas hypertrophic tonsils demonstrated HAdV DNA in both T and B cell-enriched fractions. In contrast, the majority of EBV positive tonsils revealed a preference for EBV DNA accumulation in the B cell-enriched fraction compared to T cell fraction irrespective of the patients' age.