The role of chemokines in Hodgkin's disease.

Recent studies have analyzed the expression of chemokines in tissues involved by Hodgkin's disease (HD) (1). The data indicate a significant role for chemokine expression in the pathobiology and pathophysiology of HD. In general, HD tissues showed higher levels of chemokine expression than reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) tissues. There were major differences in chemokine expression among the different HD subtypes. Similar to previous studies in athymic mice that identified a pattern of chemokine response induced by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected cells, the expression of IP-10, Mig, RANTES, and MIP1-alpha was higher in EBV positive compared to EBV negative HD tissues. In addition, there was a direct correlation of eotaxin expression with tissue eosinophilia. By immunohistochemistry, IP-10 and Mig proteins localized in the malignant Reed-Steinberg (RS) cells and their variants, and to some surrounding inflammatory cells. Eotaxin localized to fibroblasts and smooth muscle of blood vessels. In this review, we discuss the patterns of expression of IP-10, Mig, RANTES, MIP1-alpha, and eotaxin in HD and its subtypes, and the relationship to EBV positivity, LMP1 expression, tissue eosinophilia and T cell infiltration. In addition, we discuss the potential role of chemokines and cytokines in the pathobiology of HD.