Relationship of human herpesvirus 8 peripheral blood virus load and Kaposi's sarcoma clinical stage.
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.
Campbell
T B
TB
Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262, USA.
Borok
M
M
Gwanzura
L
L
MaWhinney
S
S
White
I E
IE
Ndemera
B
B
Gudza
I
I
Fitzpatrick
L
L
Schooley
R T
RT
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
D004279:DNA, Viral