Molecular evidence for mother-to-child transmission of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in Uganda and K1 gene evolution within the host

Background. Epidemiological studies of Kaposi sarcoma (KS)-related herpesvirus ( KSHV) indicate that having a KSHV-seropositive mother is a risk factor for KSHV infection in children. Methods. We determined the KSHV K1 sequences in concordantly polymerase chain reaction-positive Ugandan mother-child pairs, to ascertain whether they shared the same viral strain. We also examined sequences amplified from saliva and buffy coat samples from the same subjects, to investigate potential intrasubject sequence differences. Results. We obtained K1 sequences from 6 of 10 mother-child pairs. In 1 pair, the subtypes differed between mother and child. The mother and child in 2 other pairs shared the same subtype, but the sequences differed. The mother and child in 2 pairs shared KSHV strains with exact (100%) nucleotide homology. The last pair showed evidence of viral strain concordance between mother and child but also showed evidence of evolution of the viral sequence within the child. Of 26 study subjects, 19 showed no evidence of intrasubject K1 sequence variability, but, in 7 subjects, all of whom were children, amino acid variation of 1%-4% was observed. Conclusions. Our findings are consistent with KSHV transmission from maternal and nonmaternal sources in KS-endemic regions. Our results also provide evidence for ongoing evolution of the K1 gene in KSHV- infected children.