Abstract
The development of a sensitive immunodiffusion test for precipitating antibodies to antigens derived from herpes-type virus (HTV) infected Burkitt lymphoma cells in tissue culture is described. Seroepidemiologic observations with 517 sera were made. Precipitating antibody was found in a majority of the normal adult population, in contrast to some previous reports. The number of precipitin bands obtained was directly related to the titer of antibody reacting in indirect immunofluorescence. Antibody activity appears markedly increased in the sera of patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma, as shown by percent positive and number of precipitin bands. Studies of the antigens suggest that the precipitins are virus-specific, and may be virion protein antigens.
