Immunogenic and molecular methods detection of HHV-6 and interleukin-10 genetic polymorphisms in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Lymphoma is a common hematopoietic cancer. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most common types of lymphoma. Many viruses, levels and polymorphisms of various cytokines are examined in its etiology. The aim of this study was to determine whether the percentage of Human Herpes Virus-6 (HHV-6), IL-10 level, and polymorphisms in the IL-10 rs1518111 locus modulate the risk of developing malignant NHL in a group of Iraqi population samples. In a cross-sectional case-control study involving 200 blood samples (100 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases and 100 apparently healthy controls), HHV-6 detection was performed using the PCR method and the IL-10 rs1518111 gene polymorphism was examined. ELISA method was used to examine IL-10 levels. As a result, 42% (42 out of 100) of the 100 NHL blood samples included in this study were found to have viral infection. No viral nucleic acid was detected in all (100) seemingly healthy samples examined as a control group. A positive result by PCR showed that 40.5% were HHV6 A positive and 59.5% were negative. A positive result by PCR showed that 35.7% were HHV6 B positive and 64.3% negative. For IL-10 polymorphisms, both of TT and CC were statistically higher than those of the control group according to the gene expression levels (P<0.05). Besides, serum IL-10 concentration was significantly higher in NHL patients and relative to apparently healthy control (AHC) groups. The present results suggest that the HHV-6 and IL-10 rs1518111 polymorphism, IL-10 high level may play a role in tumor biology and may contribute to the development of NHL.