High prevalence of Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) in patients with Warthin's tumors of the salivary gland.
BACKGROUND
Warthin's tumor is a common benign neoplasm of the salivary gland. Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) is the etiologic agent for all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), and HHV-8 DNA is present in saliva, suggesting that non-sexual transmission is associated with latent infection of the salivary gland.


OBJECTIVE
To provide insights into the HHV-8 cell tropism, the presence of HHV-8 was investigated in a series of Warthin's tumors of the salivary gland and corresponding adjacent normal tissue.


METHODS
Forty-three patients with Warthin's tumors (cystadenolymphoma) were tested for the presence of HHV-8 DNA, and corresponding adjacent normal tissue samples were obtained from 15 patients. DNA was extracted from the paraffin-embedded tissues. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was applied, and the positive samples were confirmed by direct sequencing.


RESULTS
HHV-8 DNA was detected in 19 out of 43 (44%) salivary gland tumor samples. Among the 15 cases with paired samples, 9 were HHV-8-positive for both samples, 4 were HHV-8-negative for both samples while in two cases HHV-8 was detected only in the tumor specimens.


CONCLUSIONS
HHV-8 is frequently detected in adenoid salivary neoplasms, suggesting a significant role of the virus in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Larger studies are required to investigate the role of HHV-8 in the development or progression of Warthin's tumors.
Dalpa
Efterpi
E
Laboratory of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Gourvas
Viktoras
V
Baritaki
Stavroula
S
Miyakis
Spiros
S
Samaras
Vasilios
V
Barbatis
Calypso
C
Sourvinos
George
G
Spandidos
Demetrios A
DA
D000235:Adenolymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000821:virology*
D004279:DNA, Viral