title: Multiple human herpesvirus-8 infection.
abstract: In Malawian patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and their relatives, we investigated nucleotide-sequence variation in human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) subgenomic DNA, amplified from oral and blood samples by use of polymerase chain reaction. Twenty-four people had amplifiable HHV-8 DNA in >1 sample; 9 (38%) were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1, 21 (88%) were anti-HHV-8-seropositive, and 7 (29%) had KS. Sequence variation was sought in 3 loci of the HHV-8 genome: the internal repeat domain of open-reading frame (ORF) 73, the KS330 segment of ORF 26, and variable region 1 of ORF K1. Significant intraperson/intersample and intrasample sequence polymorphisms were observed in 14 people (60%). For 3 patients with KS, intraperson genotypic differences, arising from nucleotide sequence variations in ORFs 26 and K1, were found in blood and oral samples. For 2 other patients with KS and for 9 people without KS, intraperson genotypic and subgenotypic differences, originating predominantly from ORF K1, were found in oral samples; for the 2 patients with KS and for 4 individuals without KS, intrasample carriage of distinct ORF K1 sequences also were discernible. Our findings imply HHV-8 superinfection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Eastman Institute for Oral Health Care Sciences, University College London, UK. mbeyari@eastman.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mohammed M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Beyari
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kondowe
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Molyneux
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Scully
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Porter
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000821:virology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009055:Mouth / Q000821:virology; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral