Epstein-Barr Virus and Human Herpesvirus 6 Detection in a Non- Hodgkin’s Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Cohort by Using RNA Sequencing

Comprehensive virome analysis of RNA sequence (RNA-seq) data sets from 118 non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphomas revealed a small subset that is positive for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B), with one coinfection. EBV tran-scriptome analysis revealed expression of the latency genes RPMS1, LMP1, and LMP2, with one sample additionally showing a high level of early lytic expression and another sample showing a high level of EBNA2 expression. HHV-6B transcriptome analy-sis revealed that the majority of genes were transcribed. Herpesviridae is a large family of DNA viruses that can infect andcause disease in humans. Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus6 (HHV-6)are twomembersof this family that arehighly ubiquitous and have been associated with mononucleosis and exan-thema subitum (roseola), respectively. In addition, EBV is a well-knownoncovirus that is associatedwith severalmalignancies, includ-ing nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, and lymphomas. HHV-6 is an emerging pathogen that has not been defined as an oncogenic pathogen but has been variably associated with lympho-mas using traditional detection methods (e.g., PCR, Southern blot-ting, and immunohistochemistry [IHC]) (1)