Search

The EpsteinBarr virus EBV is associated with a proportion of cases of Hodgkin disease HD and this association is believed to be causal. Epidemiological studies suggest that an infectious agent is involved in the aetiology of young adult HD, however, cases in this age group are less likely to have EBVassociated disease than cases diagnosed in early childhood or older adult years. Molecular studies have failed to find a consistent association between HD and other candidate viruses, and the aetiology of nonEBVassociated cases remains obscure. We looked for evidence of herpesvirus infection in samples of nonEBVassociated HD using a highly sensitive, degenerate PCR assay. Despite exhaustive sequence analysis of PCR products, no novel herpesviruses were identified. These results suggest that it is extremely unlikely that a novel herpesvirus is involved in the pathogenesis of nonEBVassociated HD. © 2002 WileyLiss, Inc.