title: Absence of detectable human herpesvirus 8 in the semen of human immunodeficiency virus-infected men without Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: The prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)/Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus was investigated in the semen of 99 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men (median CD4 cell count, 357/mm3) by use of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay capable of detecting <10 copies of HHV-8 DNA. Of the subjects, 95 (96%) self-identified as men who have sex with men (MSM), and 3 had a history of clinical KS. Seminal cell specimens were negative for HHV-8 in 98 subjects. None of the 26 without KS (27.1% of 96 tested) who were seropositive for HHV-8 by IFA for latency-associated nuclear antigens had HHV-8 detected in their semen. The only subject with any evidence for seminal HHV-8 DNA was seropositive for HHV-8 and had active KS. HHV-8 was detected in 10 (10.4%) of 96 peripheral blood mononuclear cell specimens. The prevalence of HHV-8 DNA by PCR in semen of HIV-infected MSM without KS is low.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kedes
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Speck
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ganem
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Coombs
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Krieger
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corey
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012661:Semen / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral