Abstract:
High-grade malignant nonHodgkin's lymphomas-five lymphoblastic, three pleomorphic, and
two immunoblastic-developed in 10/25 cynomolgus monkeys (Macacafascicularis) followed for
up to 746 d after infection with simian immunodeficiency virus, strain SIVsm. These lymphomas
were shown to be associated with an Epstein-Barr (EB)-like cynomolgus B-lymphotropic herpesvirus
(CBLV) by electron microscopy, by Southern blot hybridization with probes against human EBV,
and by the expression of antigens corresponding to EBV-associated nuclear antigens (EBNAs)
involved in human B cell transformation. Southern blot demonstration ofimmunoglobulin gene
rearrangements and homogeneous EBV episomes indicated that all the lymphomas were CBLVassociated
monoclonal B cell proliferations. Our findings suggest that these tumors correspond
to the EBV-associated malignant lymphomas in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with respect
to clinical, morphological, phenotypic, and genotypic characteristics. The particular susceptibility
of SIVsm immunodeficient cynomolgus monkeys for CBLV-associated lymphomagenesis appears
therefore a useful model for EBV-associated lymphomas in humans.
