PCR-based detection of Epstein-Barr virus in brain tumors of Iraqi patients with grade I–IV astrocytomas

Background Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has recently been implicated in the development of various astrocytic proliferations. Objective to assess the prevalence of neurotropic EBV infection in brain tissue samples from astrocytoma patients classified into grades I, II, III, and IV, using a prospective case-control approach. Methods In this study, 100 brain tissue specimens were obtained from 75 patients who had astrocytoma grades1, 2, 3 and 4. In contrast, the rest of the brain tissues were enrolled as a control group. The technique of polymerase chain reaction was utilized to amplify and detect the neurotropic DNA sequence of EBV in the examined brain tissues. Results The most infected brain tumor tissues with DNA-EBV are related to the age (41–60 years), which accounted for 10.6%. The overall percentage of positive-PCR detection results for neurotropic EBV genomic DNA sequence in the examined brain tissues from astrocytomas grade 1–4 tissues was 28% (21 out of 75). The difference between the percentage of positivity of PCR detection results of neurotropic EBV genomic DNA sequence in the astrocytoma group and control group was statistically significant (P = 0.04). Conclusion and cancer policy the present results are shedding light on the importance of the studied neurotropic EBV infection in the tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis processes of the astrocytoma cases, possibly either as initiators in the induction of these brain tumors.