title: High seroprevalence of human herpesvirus type 8 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Cirrhosis patients have immunologic insufficiency and a high seroprevalence of human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8). Nearly all hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are cirrhotic and have immunoabnormalities. This study aimed to assess the HHV-8 seroprevalence and hemograms in HCC patients. Blood samples from 95 HCC patients, 95 age-, sex-, and Child-Pugh class-matched cirrhotics, and 95 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were analyzed for anti-HHV-8 antibodies, HHV-8 DNA, and lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts. HCC patients had lower lymphocyte and platelet counts and a higher monocyte count than the healthy controls (each p < 0.0001). HCC patients, and particularly those with a severe Child-Pugh class, had higher platelet counts than the corresponding cirrhosis patients (p = 0.003 and 0.002, respectively). HHV-8 seropositivity and antibody titers in HCC patients were comparable with values in cirrhosis patients and were much higher than in controls (both p < 0.0001). HCC patients, but not cirrhosis patients, had a higher prevalence of high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers (≥ 1:160) than healthy controls (p = 0.003). HCC patients with lymphopenia or thrombocytopenia had lower HHV-8 seropositivity than those without lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia (p = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively). One each of HCC and cirrhosis patients were positive for HHV-8 DNA. HCC patients seemed to suffer from less severe or shorter duration of portal hypertension compared with Child-Pugh class-matched cirrhosis patients. HCC patients had a high HHV-8 seroprevalence, which seemed to be inversely associated with lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Sciences, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. sucpo@yahoo.com.tw.|Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. sucpo@yahoo.com.tw.|Departments of Clinical Pathology and Anatomic Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan. sucpo@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.|Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K-C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M-N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Sciences, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: T-C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Sciences, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. hidrchu@gmail.com.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Center, Hualien, Taiwan. hidrchu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: T-Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies