1. ¹Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
2. ²University of Lausanne and Uveitis & External Diseases, Eye Center La Source, Lausanne, Switzerland

Correspondence: Chi-Chao Chan, M.D., Building 10, Room 10N103, NIH/NEI, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1857; e-mail: ccc@helix.nih.gov; fax: (301) 402-8664.

Accepted 6 July 2001.

Abstract

Primary intraocular lymphoma, a variant of primary central nervous system lymphoma with ocular involvement, is a large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Some cases of primary intraocular lymphoma have been reported to be associated with microorganisms including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8), but not parasites. We analyzed 10 cases of primary intraocular lymphoma using microdissection and PCR. Tumor and normal cells were microdissected from ocular tissue on slides and subjected to PCR for genes from Toxoplasma gondii, EBV, and HHV-8. We detected Toxoplasma gondii, not HHV-8 or EBV, DNA in the lymphoma but not in normal cells of two cases that resembled ocular toxoplasmosis clinically. We speculate that Toxoplasma gondii may play a role in some forms of primary intraocular B-cell lymphoma.