title: Detection of human herpesvirus 8 sequences in cutaneous cherry angiomas.
abstract: Cherry angiomas (CAs) are common vascular benign skin tumors, characterized by abnormal angiogenesis, whose etiology is still unclear and poorly studied. We investigated the presence of HHV8 in CAs due to virus ability of inducing neoangiogenesis in endothelial cells. A total of 29 patients were enrolled in a randomized, controlled, blinded analysis of skin specimens including various vascular lesions. All clinical samples were anonymized and analyzed by three different biomolecular assays to minimize the risk of false positive/negative results. Results showed that 53 % of eruptive CAs harbor HHV8 sequences, with the highest viral loads in samples derived from immunosuppressed patients. By contrast, no paucilesional CAs were positive for HHV8. Considering HHV8 prevalence in the Mediterranean population (10-15 %), results obtained in eruptive CAs are significant and suggest for the first time a possible involvement of HHV8 in eruptive cherry angiomas development, particularly in the context of immunosuppression, similar to that recognized for major HHV8-induced pathologies.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benedetti
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corazza
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gentili
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruina
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Luca
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Virgili
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caselli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral