title: Detection and titration of human herpesvirus-8-specific antibodies in sera from blood donors, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients, and Kaposi's sarcoma patients using a whole virus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
abstract: A human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a whole virus lysate as antigen was developed and used to measure the seroprevalence rate and levels of IgG antibodies to HHV-8 in sera/plasma of various patient groups and blood donors. The virus antigen was prepared from the KS-1 cell line, which produces lytic virus, and therefore contains a broad array of viral proteins. Seroprevalence studies using this ELISA showed the following: 10 of 91 blood donors (11%) had an average HHV-8 antibody titer of 118; 67 of 72 (93%) classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) patients were positive with an average titer of 14,111; and 57 of 62 (92%) KS/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients were positive with an average titer of 4,000. A study on a very limited number of serial serum samples from patients before and after diagnosis with KS showed highly elevated antibody titers to HHV-8 virus after KS lesions developed. Preliminary data show that 50% of the sera from HIV-1(+) homosexual patients contain IgG antibodies to HHV-8 suggesting that this population is at high risk for developing KS. Antibody results correlated well with the confirmatory immunofluorescent assays (IFA) using KS-1 cells as the substrate. This HHV-8 IgG antibody detection ELISA is sensitive and specific and does not cross-react with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or other human herpesviruses. The results of this HHV-8 antibody survey suggest that this rapid ELISA assay can be used to screen large numbers of sera to find those at risk for developing KS.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Biotechnologies Inc, Columbia, MD, USA.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Chatlynne
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lapps
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Handy
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masood
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Said
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Koeffler
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedman-Kien
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Whitman
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Ablashi
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral