Humoral immune response to Epstein-Barr virus antigens and immunoglobulin allotypes in African Burkitt lymphoma patients.

We examined whether any immunoglobulin allotype was associated with an elevated risk of Burkitt's lymphoma because of the association between Burkitt's lymphoma and abnormalities of the immunoglobulin-bearing chromosomes. The distribution of Gm and Km phenotypes among 56 Burkitt lymphoma cases and 25 age-matched controls was unremarkable. Burkitt's lymphoma has also been associated with the Epstein-Barr virus, and we therefore sought a relationship between immunoglobulin allotypes and antibody response to the component antigens of the Epstein-Barr virus, VCA, EA-D, EA-R and EBNA. No immunoglobulin phenotype was associated with higher antibody titers against any antigen, but there appeared to be an interactive effect in which persons homozygous at both Gm and Km loci had elevated titers against several of the component antigens of the Epstein-Barr virus. This is the first report of an interactive effect between immunoglobulin allotypes and viruses. Antibody titers against antigens of the Epstein-Barr virus were higher in cases than in controls, as expected. However, female cases had significantly higher titers than male cases, a finding similar to that previously reported in healthy persons.