title: Simultaneous quantification of human herpesvirus 8 DNA by real time PCR in different tissues of HIV infected cuban patients with Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: In Cuba, previous reports have shown an increase of epidemic KS, reaching a total of 120 cases by the end of 2007, despite the use of HAART. To evaluate and compare the role of human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) viral loads in different compartments of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma (AIDS-KS) patients real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the genome copy number of HHV-8 in plasma, saliva, tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 49 AIDS-KS patients. Overall, 98% of AIDS-KS patients harbored detectable HHV-8. HHV-8 could be detected in 91.6% of KS tissue lesions showing the highest viral load (median log = 3.14 copies/100 ng DNA) followed by saliva and PBMC which were positive in 78%, and 69.2%; respectively. In contrast, HHV-8 was detected in only 37% of plasma samples, which also showed lower viral loads. Men who had sex with men (MSM) were more likely to have three-times higher HHV-8 genome copies in KS lesions when compared with tissues from heterosexuals individuals (OR 3; 95% CI 1.1 to 12.5). These results emphasize the systemic nature of HHV-8-infection and demonstrate the possible role of saliva in HHV-8 transmission among MSM.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kourí
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Orestes
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Capó
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: María E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: María Del C
authors.initials: MDC
authors.lastname: Dovigny
authors.affiliation: Latin-American School of medicine, Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cardellá
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gala
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Narciso A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Yoan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Alemán
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Lissette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí", Havana City, Cuba.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Skin Center, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hengge