Detection of human herpesvirus 8 DNA and antibodies to latent nuclear and lytic-phase antigens in serial samples from aids patients with Kaposi's sarcoma

Background: human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) have recently implicated in the etiology of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), but the pathophysiologic and immunologic interactions between HHV-8 and the human host are incompletely understood. Objective: this paper intends to present partial results of a follow-up study of KS patients, designed to investigate HHV-8 viremia and antibody response. Methods: ninety-six paired serial samples (PBMCs and sera) were obtained from 12 aids patients with KS who received HAART prior or just after entry in the study. HHV-8 DNA was detected by nested-PCR and antibodies to HHV-8 latent nuclear antigen (LANA) and lytic antigen by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Results: HHV-8 DNA was detected in 33.3% of the first PBMC samples. Among the eight PCR negative patients, four presented positive samples during the follow-up and four remained negative. Five patients had intermittent viremia. Fifteen of the 96 PBMC samples were PCR positive (15.6%). Four of 39 samples (10.2%) from patients classified as stadio II and 11 of the 53 samples (20.7%) from patients in stadio IV were PCR positive (P = 0.2). Six patients (50%) had anti-LANA antibodies at the entry in the study. Among the six seronegative patients, two seroconverted 2 months later and four patients remained seronegative during the 5-8 months of follow-up. All patients had anti-lytic antibodies since the first sample. Conclusion: the presence of HHV-8 viremia could be related to the severity of KS and could be intermittent even under HAART. A longer follow-up is needed to confirm these results. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.