Lymphotropism of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection, Nova Scotia, Canada

摘要

To test the hypothesis that Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) can infect cells of the lymphoid system, we ana-lyzed 353 specimens, including 152 non-Hodgkin lympho-mas, 44 Hodgkin lymphomas, 110 benign lymph nodes, 27 lymph nodes with metastasis, and 20 extranodal tis-sue samples. MCPyV DNA was detected by quantitative PCR in 13 (6.6%) of 196 lymphomas, including 5 (20.8%) of 24 chronic lymphocytic leukemia specimens, and in 11 (10%) of 110 benign lymph nodes, including 8 (13.1%) of 61 samples of reactive hyperplasia and 3 (10.3%) of 29 nor-mal lymph nodes. Other samples were MCPyV negative. Sequence analysis of 9 virus-positive samples confi rmed the identity of MCPyV; 3 viral strains were represented. Im-munohistochemical testing showed that 1 T-cell lymphoma expressed MCPyV T-antigen. These fi ndings suggest that the lymphoid system plays a role in MCPyV infection and may be a site for MCPyV persistence