Diagnosis and treatment of viral diseases

A method of diagnosing Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a human patient comprising the steps of:

• a. providing
• i. a human clinical sample suspected of having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma and a sarcoma,
• ii. a labeled nucleic acid probe comprising one or more sequences derived from Herpesvirus saimiri,
• b. contacting said clinical sample (i) with said labeled nucleic acid probe (ii),
• c. allowing hybridization to take place between said labeled nucleic acid probe (ii) and viral sequences in said clinical sample (i) if present, and
• d. detecting hybridization of said nucleic acid probe (ii) to said viral sequences in said clinical sample (i), and
• thereby diagnosing said patient as having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma a thymoma or a sarcoma.

A method of diagnosing Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a human patient comprising the steps of:

• a. providing
• i. a human clinical sample suspected of having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma and a sarcoma,
• ii. a labeled nucleic acid probe comprising one or more sequences derived from a virus related to Herpesvirus saimiri, wherein said related virus has at least 50% nucleic acid sequence homology with Herpesvirus saimiri,
• b. contacting said clinical sample (i) with said labeled nucleic acid probe (ii),
• c. allowing hybridization to take place between said labeled nucleic acid probe (ii) and viral sequences in said clinical sample (i) if present, and
• d. detecting hybridization of said nucleic acid probe (ii) to said viral sequences in said clinical sample (i), and
• thereby diagnosing said patient as having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma.

A kit comprising

• a. a labeled nucleic acid probe selected from (i) a non-radioactively labeled probe comprising one or more sequences derived from Herpesvirus saimiri, (ii) a probe derived from a virus related to Herpesvirus saimiri, wherein said related virus has at least 50% nucleic acid sequence homology with Herpesvirus saimiri, or a combination of (i) and (ii);
• b. reagents for carrying out hybridization of said probe to a clinical sample
• c. a primer comprising a sequence complementary to a sequence in one strand of the viral target sequence;
• d. a primer comprising a sequence identical to a sequence in said strand of the viral target sequence;
• and
• e. a reagent for carrying out amplification of said viral target sequence.

A method of diagnosing Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a human patient in a human patient comprising the steps of:

• a. providing
• i. a human clinical sample suspected of having a viral infection,
• ii. antibodies to at least two protein targets selected from DHFR, cyclin D, IL-17 and thymidylate synthase;
• b. contacting said clinical sample (i) with said antibodies (ii),
• c. allowing binding to take place between said antibodies (ii) and proteins in said clinical sample (i) if present, and
• d. detecting binding of said antibodies (ii) to said clinical sample (i), and
• thereby diagnosing said patient as having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma.

A method of isolating a clone, comprising a gamma Herpesvirus sequence comprising the steps of

• a. providing
• i. a biological sample from a subject who has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic Castleman's disease, a retroperitoneal liposarcoma, a thymoma or a mediastinal lymphoma,
• ii. reagents for isolating gamma Herpesvirus nucleic acids from said biological sample,
• iii. reagents for creating a clone library of said isolated nucleic acids,
• iv. a nucleic acid probe or probes comprising one or more gamma Herpesvirus sequences,
• b. isolating gamma Herpesvirus nucleic acids from said biological sample;
• c. creating a clone library of nucleic acid constructs from said isolated gamma Herpesvirus nucleic acids,
• d. hybridizing said nucleic acid probe or probes (iv),
• e. screening said clone library (c) to identify a clone that comprises nucleic acids having homology with said nucleic acid probe or probes (c1), and
• f. isolating said clone identified in step e.

A method of isolating a nucleic acid comprising a gamma Herpesvirus sequence comprising the steps of:

• a. providing
• i. biological sample from a subject who has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic Castleman's disease, a retroperitoneal liposarcoma, a thymoma or a mediastinal lymphoma,
• ii. a reagent for isolating nucleic acids from said biological sample,
• iii. nucleic acid primers that are capable of amplifying multiple gamma Herpesvirus species in a PCR reaction, and
• iii. reagents for carrying out a PCR reaction,
• b. isolating nucleic acids from said biological sample,
• c. mixing said nucleic acid primers, and said PCR reagent with said biological sample,
• d. carrying out a PCR reaction,
• e. analyzing said PCR reaction, and
• f. identifying the presence of an amplification product.

A method of Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a human patient comprising the steps of:

• a. providing
• i. a human clinical sample suspected of having Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma a sarcoma,
• ii. reagents for isolation of nucleic acids from said clinical sample,
• iii. reagents for carrying out nucleic acid amplification,
• iv. primers that are capable of amplifying nucleic acid sequences of gamma Herpesvirus targets that have at least 50% homology with Herpesvirus saimiri
• b. isolating nucleic from said sample (i) with said reagents (ii)
• c. mixing said isolated nucleic acids from step (b) with said amplification reagents (ii) and said primers (iii),
• d. carrying out nucleic acid amplification if said gamma Herpesvirus targets are present in said clinical sample (i),
• e. detecting the presence of amplified products form step (d).