title: Detection of human herpesvirus 8 DNA sequences in tissues and bodily fluids.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been proposed as a sexually transmitted etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). In this study, by use of a sensitive polymerase chain reaction assay, HHV-8 DNA was detected in the skin lesions (92%), normal skin (23%), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (46%), plasma (7%), saliva (37%), and semen (12%) but not stool samples from KS patients. The average number of HHV-8 copies per microgram of positive target DNA was 64, 000, 9000, 40, 33,000, and 300 for skin, PBMC, plasma, saliva, and semen samples, respectively. Only 1 non-KS donor sample, of saliva, was positive for HHV-8. Sequencing showed 5% divergence among HHV-8 strains. The data suggest that saliva may be more important than semen or stool in the sexual transmission of HHV-8. The relatively high prevalence of HHV-8 in PBMC raises the question as to why there is no evidence for bloodborne virus transmission.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: LaDuca
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: L Z
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dube
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Freidman-Kien
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Poiesz
mesh_terms: D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009000:Monocytes / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D012661:Semen / Q000821:virology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral