Investigation of the bovine leukemia virus proviral DNA in human leukemias and lung cancers in Korea

Abstract

The bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leucosis. This study investigated the presence of the BLV in leukemia (179 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 292 acute myeloid leukemia and 46 chronic myelogenous leukemia cases) and 162 lung cancer patients (139 adenocarcinoma, 23 squamous cell carcinoma) to determine if the BLV is a causative organism of leukemia and lung cancer in Koreans. A BLV infection was confirmed in human cells by PCR using a BLV-8 primer combination. All 517 cases of human leukemia and 162 lung cancer were negative for a PCR of the BLV proviral DNA. In conclusion, although meat has been imported from BLV endemic areas, the BLV infection does not appear to be the cause of human leukemia or lung cancer in Koreans. These results can be used as a control for further studies on the BLV in Koreans.

Fig. 1

Sequences of the primers used for detection of the BLV.

Fig. 2

PCR amplification of BLV envelope gene. Target size, 473 bp (BLV-8); M, 1kb plus ladder; Lane 1, BL-3.1; Lane 2, BL-3

Fig. 3

PCR amplification of BLV envelope gene. M, 1 kb Plus ladder; 1, BLV-1 (803 bp); 2, BLV-2 (613 bp); 3, BLV-3 (543 bp); 4, BLV-4 (689 bp); 5, BLV-5 (499 bp); 6, BLV-6 (429 bp); 7, BLV-7 (663 bp); 8, BLV-8 (473 bp); 9, BLV-9 (403 bp).

Fig. 4

Determination of PCR sensitivity using nested PCR. Template, BL-3.1 genomic DNA; A, BLV-3 Primer Set (543 bp); B, BLV-8 Primer Set (473 bp); C, Nested PCR; M, 1 kb Plus Ladder (GIBCO); N, Negative Control; 1, 10⁸ Copies; 2, 10⁷ Copies; 3, 10⁶ Copies; 4, 10⁵ Copies; 5, 10⁴ Copies; 6, 10³ Copies; 7, 10² Copies; 8, 10 copies; 9, 1 Copy; 10, 0.1 Copy.