title: Viral load of human herpesvirus 8 in peripheral blood of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: Viral load is an important marker of activity of viral diseases for a number of viruses. We wished to evaluate whether the viral load of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in peripheral blood was a consistent feature of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) patients and whether the viral load correlated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA levels, CD4 counts, and/or the HHV-8 seroreactivity. Fifty-four consecutive plasma samples from 14 patients with KS were evaluated for HHV-8 viral load by quantitative real-time PCR. Samples were analyzed at the start of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and at different intervals during treatments. The median HHV-8 DNA load before HAART treatment was 8,998 (ranging from 170 to 40,100) copies/ml and 12,270 (ranging from 40 to 142,575) copies/ml during HAART. There were both increasing and decreasing trends. There was an association between HHV-8 DNA and HIV RNA viral loads (odds ratio [OR] = 5.40; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.54 to 18.98) and between HHV-8 viral load and CD4 cell counts (OR = 7.24; 95% CI, 1.30 to 40.35). High HHV-8 viral load was also correlated with the titers of antibodies to the lytic HHV-8 antigen detected with immunofluorescence (P < 0.01), but not with antibodies to the latent HHV-8 antigen. In conclusion, we found that HHV-8 viremia in KS is associated with HIV viral load, CD4 cell counts, and lytic HHV-8 serological reactivity. HHV-8 viral load monitored by real time PCR might be useful for determination HHV-8 viral load during the follow-up of KS patients.
authors.affiliation: The Microbiology and Tumor Biology Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. rtedeschi@cro.it
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enbom
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bidoli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linde
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Paoli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dillner
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000821:virology*; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral