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A novel HLA-B51 allele, B*5113Note, was identified in a Kolla Amerindian individual from North-West Argentina. HLA-B*51131 differs from B*51011 by two nucleotide substitutions, one synonymous, the other non-synonymous. The resulting amino acid difference at residue 116 in the HLA-B molecule’s peptide binding site is likely to affect the nature of the peptides which bind to this molecule. The finding of this novel allele supports previous findings of increased diversity at HLA-B in Amerindian groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is the most frequent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children in Argentina. Although epidemiologic studies have linked Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to more than 90% of African BL cases but to only 10-20% of American and French cases, increased EBV-specific antibody titers were demonstrated in 73% of Argentinian patients with BL. To characterize the relationship between EBV and BL in Argentina, we analyzed paraffin-embedded tissues from 16 cases of BL for the presence of EBV DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). PCR analysis showed that only 4 of 16 specimens contained the EBV BamW fragment, and these specimens were all from cases diagnosed in 1984. Results of ISH performed with a specific biotinylated DNA probe against the NotI/PstI fragment of EBV correlated with the PCR findings. EBV sequences were detected with ISH in 70-90% of the tumor cells from the 4 positive cases. These data may suggest an epidemic outbreak of EBV-related BL in 1984 superimposed on sporadic cases of BL, for which EBV may not have been an essential factor. This study also demonstrates the value of using molecular techniques on archival tissue to track epidemiologic trends.