High prevalence of serum antibodies reacting with simian virus 40 capsid protein mimotopes in patients affected by malignant pleural mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of High prevalence of serum antibodies reacting with simian virus 40 capsid protein mimotopes in patients affected by malignant pleural mesothelioma, by E. Mazzoni, A. Corallini, A. Cristaudo, et al (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012).

The study

• Authors: E. Mazzoni, A. Corallini, A. Cristaudo, A. Taronna, G. Tassi, M. Manfrini, M. Comar, M. Bovenzi, R. Guaschino, F. Vaniglia, C. Magnani, F. Casali, G. Rezza, G. Barbanti-Brodano, F. Martini, M.G. Tognon
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
• Published: 2012;109(44):18066-71
• Cited by: 43 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is considered a rare tumor, but recent estimations indicate that one-quarter million people will die of this neoplasm in Europe in the next three decades. The mineral asbestos is considered the main causative agent of this neoplasm. MPM is largely unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy/radiotherapy. In addition to asbestos exposure, genetic predisposition to asbestos carcinogenesis and to simian virus (SV)40 infection has also been suggested. SV40 is a DNA tumor virus found in some studies to be associated at high prevalence with MPM. SV40 sequences have also been detected, although at a lower prevalence than in MPM, in blood specimens from healthy donors. However, some studies have failed to reveal SV40 footprints in MPM and its association with this neoplasm. These conflicting results indicate the need for further investigations with new approaches. We report on the presence of antibodies in serum samples from patients affected by MPM that specifically react with two different SV40 mimotopes. The two SV40 peptides used in indirect ELISAs correspond to viral capsid proteins. ELISA with the two SV40 mimotopes gave overlapping results. Our data indicate that in serum samples from MPM-affected patients (n = 97), the prevalence of antibodies against SV40 viral capsid protein antigens is significantly higher (26%, P = 0.043) than in the control group (15%) represented by healthy subjects (n = 168) with the same median age (66 y) and sex. Our results suggest that SV40 is associated with a subset of MPM and circulates in humans.

In plain English

This Italian study tested blood serum for antibodies to simian virus 40 (SV40), a DNA tumor virus. The authors used a laboratory test (indirect ELISA) with two synthetic fragments of SV40's capsid (shell) proteins, counting a sample as positive only if it reacted with both. Among 97 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, 25 (26%) were positive, compared with 25 of 168 (15%) healthy subjects of the same median age (66). This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.043). Among 90 workers who had been exposed to asbestos, 8 (9%) were positive. That was significantly fewer than the patients (P = 0.0046) and not significantly different from 174 blood donors (15%, P = 0.19). Pregnant women (13% of 94) also had fewer positives than the patients (P = 0.036). The authors concluded that SV40 infection is associated with a subset of pleural mesothelioma, but stated that this is not proof that SV40 causes the tumors. The article's text calls the patients and healthy controls all male, but its table gives lower male percentages.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory serology comparison (case-control style): serum antibodies to SV40 measured by indirect ELISA in mesothelioma patients and several control groups
• Who was studied: Serum from 97 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients (Brescia, Casale Monferrato, Pisa, Trieste), 168 healthy subjects (median age 66), 90 asbestos-exposed workers (University of Pisa), 94 pregnant women, and 299 healthy blood donors (125 with median age 36; 174 with median age 54.5), collected at Italian institutions in 2006–2012
• Exposure: Antibodies (IgG) against two SV40 capsid protein peptides (VP1 B and VP2/3 C). Asbestos exposure was a characteristic of one comparison group (workers exposed to asbestos); no fiber type, job, or dose is given
• Main results:
  • SV40 antibodies were found in 26% of mesothelioma patients (25 of 97) versus 15% of healthy subjects (25 of 168); statistically significant, P = 0.043
  • Asbestos-exposed workers (n = 90) had a 9% prevalence (8 positive), significantly lower than mesothelioma patients (P = 0.0046)
  • Asbestos-exposed workers (9%) did not differ significantly from healthy blood donors of the same median age, 54.5 (15%, n = 174); P = 0.19
  • Pregnant women (n = 94) had a 13% prevalence, significantly lower than mesothelioma patients (P = 0.036). They did not differ significantly from blood donors with median age 36 (18%, n = 125; P = 0.43)
  • The average antibody reading (OD mean value) did not differ significantly between mesothelioma patients and healthy subjects
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that SV40 infection is associated with a subset of malignant pleural mesothelioma and that SV40 antibodies are also present, at lower prevalence, in the adult population
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that the higher antibody prevalence in mesothelioma patients does not prove that SV40 causes the tumors
  • The authors note that SV40 could be only a passenger virus that multiplies better in some transformed cells

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Neoplasm, Chemotherapy, Asbestos Exposure, Carcinogenesis, SV40.

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• Simian virus 40 sequences in blood specimens from healthy individuals of Casale Monferrato, an industrial town with a history of asbestos pollution — C. Pancaldi, V. Balatti, et al. (2009)
• The presence of simian-virus 40 sequences in mesothelioma and mesothelial cells is associated with high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor — P. Cacciotti, L. Strizzi, et al. (2002)
• Simian virus-40 large-T antigen binds p53 in human mesotheliomas — M. Carbone, P. Rizzo, et al. (1997)
• Human mesothelial cells are unusually susceptible to simian virus 40-mediated transformation and asbestos cocarcinogenicity — M. Bocchetta, I. Di Resta, et al. (2000)

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