Viruses (Aug 2022)

Spatial Dispersal of Epstein–Barr Virus in South America Reveals an African American Variant in Brazilian Lymphomas

  • Paula Alves,
  • Marcella Larrate,
  • Aruanã Garcia-Costa,
  • Paulo Rohan,
  • Bianca Ervatti Gama,
  • Eliana Abdelhay,
  • Edson Delatorre,
  • Rocio Hassan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v14081762
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 8
p. 1762

Abstract

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Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a saliva-borne ɣ-herpesvirus associated with benign and malignant lymphoproliferation. EBV-mediated tumorigenic mechanisms are not fully understood and may be related to viral genetic variations. In this work, we characterize the genetic diversity of EBV from Brazil, assessing 82 samples derived from saliva from asymptomatic carriers (n = 45), biopsies of benign reactive hyperplasia (n = 4), and lymphomas (n = 33). Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis of the entire coding region of the LMP-1 was performed. Additionally, type 1/type 2 distinction by the EBNA3C gene and Zp variants were evaluated. Our results revealed a high diversity of EBV in Brazil, with the co-circulation of four main clades, described here as: Mediterranean (40.2%, n = 33), Raji/Argentine (39%, n = 32), B95-8 (6.1%, n = 5), and Asian II (1.2%, n = 1). The Raji/Argentine and Mediterranean clades were the most prevalent in South America (45% and 28%, respectively). The Raji/Argentine clade was associated with polymorphisms I124V/I152L, del30 bp, and ins15 bp (p p = 0.1). These data highlight the high genetic diversity of EBV circulating in Brazil, calling attention to a Raji-related variant with great recombination potential in Brazilian lymphomas.

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