title: Relationship of human herpesvirus 8 peripheral blood virus load and Kaposi's sarcoma clinical stage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relationship between human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8 or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) peripheral blood virus load and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) clinical stage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blinded, cross-sectional analysis of peripheral blood HHV-8 DNA levels in persons with AIDS-related KS in Harare, Zimbabwe.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were stratified by KS clinical stage. The amount of HHV-8 DNA in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR amplification of the HHV-8 open reading frame 26.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-one HIV-1/HHV-8-coinfected persons were studied: 26 subjects had histologically confirmed KS (one stage II, 11 stage III and 14 stage IV) and five subjects had antibodies to HHV-8 but did not have KS. The age, CD4 lymphocyte count and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels were similar in all groups. HHV-8 DNA was detected in the plasma of all HHV-8-infected subjects (range < 2.4 to 5.2 log10 copies/ml), but plasma HHV-8 DNA levels were not associated with KS disease stage. In contrast, the amount of HHV-8 DNA in PBMC (range < 0.7 to 4.5 log10 copies/microg) was strongly associated with KS clinical stage (P = 0.005). Among stage IV KS cases, there was a linear relationship between plasma and PBMC HHV-8 DNA levels (r2 = 0.42; P = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strong association observed between the extent of KS disease and the levels of HHV-8 DNA in PBMC provides further evidence for a relationship between HHV-8 virus load and KS pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262, USA.
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borok
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gwanzura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MaWhinney
authors.forename: I E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ndemera
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gudza
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Schooley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication; D015030:Zimbabwe
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral