View clinical trials related to Epstein-Barr Virus Infections.
Filter by:This study will evaluate the ability of people of different ethnic backgrounds to develop immune responses against the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). A common virus, EBV is present in 90 percent of healthy people and usually does not cause problems. Most people are infected in childhood, have no symptoms, and are unaware of their infection. People infected as adolescents or adults may develop infectious mononucleosis, which usually resolves completely. However, in immune suppressed people, like those who have had a transplant, EBV can cause fatal cancers. It can also cause certain cancers such as Burkitt's lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma in people who are not immune suppressed. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is 100 times more common in people of Asian origin (particularly southern Chinese) compared with Caucasians. This difference may be the result of genetic, rather than environmental, factors. This study will examine whether the same proteins produced by EBV in the cancer cells react differently in people of different ethnic background in a way that could explain the differences in predisposition for this disease. Healthy normal volunteers 18 years of age and older of Caucasian or Chinese ancestry may be eligible for this study. Candidates of Chinese ancestry must be born in China (including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, or be first generation offspring of parents born in these places). Participants will have a blood sample drawn and will undergo lymphapheresis - a procedure for collecting large numbers of white blood cells called lymphocytes. The blood sample is tested for blood counts and HLA type, a genetic marker of the immune system. HLA molecules help determine the way the body's immune cells respond to virus. HLA typing is similar to blood typing. Usually done to match stem cell or organ transplants, HLA testing may also be used to try to identify factors associated with an increased risk of certain diseases or conditions. HLA type is strongly associated with ethnic background. For lymphapheresis, blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein, similar to donating blood. The blood flows from the vein through a catheter (plastic tube) into a machine that separates it into its components by centrifugation (spinning). The white cells are removed and the rest of the blood (red cells, plasma and platelets) is returned to the body through a needle in the other arm. The procedure takes 2 to 3 hours. The collected white cells are used for research for this study, including the ability to react to EBV proteins, and are then destroyed.
Patients have a type of blood cell cancer or other blood problem that is very hard to cure with standard treatments and s/he will receive a bone marrow transplant. If the patient does not have a brother or sister whose marrow is a "perfect match", this bone marrow will come from a donor whose marrow is the best match available. This person may be a close relative or an unrelated person whose bone marrow best "matches" the patient's, and who agrees to donate marrow. In normal people, the Epstein-Barr (EB) virus infection causes a flu like illness and usually gets better when the immune system controls the infection. The virus, however, remains hidden in the body for life. After a transplant, while the new immune system is growing back, the EB virus can come out and infect cells and cause them to grow in an uncontrolled manner. Patients can develop fevers, swollen lymph nodes and damage to other organs such as kidneys and lungs. This infection acts like a cancer because the cells infected with EB virus grow very quickly and there is no known effective treatment. This sort of infection will occur in between 10-30% of patients receiving a transplant from a donor who is not a perfect match, and has been fatal in nearly all these cases. This infection occurs because the immune system cannot control the growth of the cells. We want to see if we can prevent it from happening or treat it by giving the patient a kind of white blood cell called T cells that we have grown from the marrow donor. These cells have been trained to attack EB virus infected cells. We will grow these T cells from blood taken from the donor at the time of bone marrow harvest. These T cells will be stimulated with the donor's EB virus-infected cells which have been treated with radiation so they cannot grow. After mixing these cells together we will be able to grow special T cells from the donor that can attack EB virus infected cells. We will then collect the T cells and make sure they can kill the virus infected cells. These EBV specific T cells are an investigational product not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Patients who may have been infected with EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) before or after the time of their transplant have a higher risk of developing Lymphoproliferative Disease (LPD) or may already have a form of this disease. This research study uses Epstein Barr virus (EBV) specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). These cells have been trained to attack and kill (cytotoxic) EB virus infected cells. We make these cells from the patients blood by first growing an EBV infected B cell line by infecting the blood with an EBV virus called B-95. We then treat these EBV infected B cells with radiation so they cannot grow and use them to stimulate T cells. This stimulation will train the T cells to kill EBV infected cells. We will then test the T cells to make sure they kill the EBV infected cells. The purpose of this study is to find the largest safe dose of EBV specific CTLs, to learn what the side effects are, and to see whether this therapy might help prevent or cure EBV related cancers in solid organ transplant patients
Severe chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (SCAEBV) is a rare Epstein-Barr virus (EBV or commonly known as mono or the kissing disease) associated disorder. This disorder may cause chronic tiredness and fevers and sometimes be complicated by life threatening problems such as multi-organ failure, chronic (ongoing) pneumonia, and lymphoproliferative diseases (diseases involving the lymph nodes which could eventually show up as leukemia or a tumor). The reasons for the body's inability to control the EBV infection are still unknown and no effective treatment is currently available. This research study uses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). We want to see if we can grow special white blood cells, called T cells, that have been trained to kill EBV infected cells in the laboratory and see if these cells may help control the EBV infection when given back to the patient. The purpose of this study is to find the largest safe dose of EBV specific CTLs, to learn what the side effects are, and to see whether this therapy might help the body fight off the SCAEBV infection.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the human herpes virus family that infects more than 95 percent of the U.S. population. Most infections occur in childhood and cause no symptoms; in adolescents and adults, EBV often causes infectious mononucleosis. It has also been associated with certain forms of cancer. Chronic Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) is a rare disease, primarily of children and young adults, that leads to life-threatening infections. This study seeks to identify genetic mutations responsible for CAEBV. A secondary goal is to learn more about the natural history of CAEBV. The study will examine blood and tissue samples from up to 50 patients (age 3 and above) with CAEBV and up to 150 of their relatives (age 1 and above). Autopsy samples may be included in the study. Up to 300 anonymous blood samples from the NIH Clinical Center Blood Transfusion Medicine will also be examined for comparison. No more than 450 milligrams (30 tablespoons) of blood per 8 weeks will be drawn from adult patients, and no more than 7 milliliters per kilogram of blood per 8 weeks will be drawn from patients under age 18. Local health care providers will refer patients to the study and will obtain the samples. Some patients may also be seen at the NIH Clinical Center. Those patients will have a full medical history and physical examination, along with chest X-ray, blood counts, blood chemistry, EBV serologies, and viral load. Other tests, such as CT scan or MRI, may be performed if medically indicated. Patients will be asked to undergo leukapheresis. In vitro tests on the blood or tissue samples will include analysis for proteins or genes that are involved in the immune response; cloning of portions of patient DNA; transformation of B cells with EBV; measurement of the ability of patient blood cells to kill EBV-infected cells; determination of lymphocyte subsets; and determination of antibodies to EBV or other herpes viruses. If a genetic cause for CAEBV is found, the investigators will be available to discuss the results with patients in person or by telephone. Genetic indications of risk for other diseases will also be discussed with patients.
This study will examine the effects of long-term antiviral therapy with valaciclovir (Valtrex) on Epstein-Barr virus infection. This virus infects more than 95 percent of people in the United States. Most are infected in childhood, have no symptoms, and are unaware of their infection. People infected as adolescents or adults may develop infectious mononucleosis, which usually resolves completely. Once infected, most people shed the virus from their throat occasionally, and all carry the virus in their white blood cells for life. This study will determine whether the amount of virus in the blood declines or disappears with long-term valaciclovir treatment. Normal volunteers who are not taking any antiviral medicines and patients enrolled in NIH's protocol no. 97-I-0168 (Evaluation of Valaciclovir for Prevention of Herpes Simplex Virus Transmission) or Glaxo-Wellcome protocol HS2AB 3009 at collaborating centers may be eligible for this study. Patients in the multi-center study must be about to start valaciclovir therapy for at least 1 year. All candidates must be 18 years of age or older. Study participants will be seen in clinic for about 1 hour every 3 months for a year. During these visits, they will provide information about the medicines they are taking, gargle twice with salt water and spit the fluid into a tube, and have blood drawn (no more than 8 teaspoons each visit). The blood and gargled fluid will be tested for the amount of Epstein-Barr virus and antibodies to the virus. (Blood samples will also be tested for HLA type in order to do immunologic studies in the laboratory. HLA is a marker of the immune system that is similar to blood-typing testing.) The results in people taking valaciclovir will be compared with those in people not taking the drug. People whose results show the virus has disappeared from the body will continue to be followed twice a year for 5 years with the blood and gargling tests to continue to look for evidence of virus. Also, people who develop symptoms resembling mononucleosis (e.g., enlarged lymph nodes with fever and sore throat) will be asked to have their blood tested for the virus.