Author(s)

Martínez Pedro Ariel, Kourí Vivian, Blanco Orestes, Capó Virginia, Abad Yoandra, Alemán Yoan, Verdasquera Denis, Jiménez Narciso, Caballero Iraida, Fleites Gilberto, Ugarte Yaumara, Calderón Odalys, Álvarez Alina, Ulrich Hengge

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Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kourí” (IPK), Autopista Novia del Mediodía, Habana, Cuba.

Despite the progress has been reached with Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) research, there are gaps in the knowledge of viral induced oncogenesis. The aim of the present study was to identify possible associations between HHV-8 subtypes, HHV-8 loads and clinical manifestations of HIV infected patients diagnosed with different malignancies associated with HHV-8 infection. Forty six HIV-1 infected individuals diagnosed with different HHV-8 associated diseases were studied [37 epidemic Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), 3 pleural effusion lymphoma (PEL); 5 peripheral lymphadenopathies (PL); 1 Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL); 1 non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL)]. HHV-8 loads were determined by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) whilst HHV-8 subtypes were determined by open-reading frame (ORF)-K1 gen genotyping. HHV-8 subtypes B, A, C, A5 and E were exhibited by 31.8%, 23.4%, 19.1%, 17% and 8.5% of the studied patients, respectively. The median HHV-8 viral load did not differ between subtypes (p > 0.05) but HHV-8 viral loads were significantly higher in PEL than in epidemic KS lesion or lymph nodes (p = 0.04). Subtype B was detected in 60% of patients with B cell lymphoma (NHL, PEL and HL) whereas subtype E was only detected in patients with epidemic KS diagnosis. Our data suggest that HHV-8 DNA quantification instead of subtype identification could be used as a surrogate marker for monitoring its infection, not only in epidemic KS patients but also in HIV infected individuals with lymphoproliferative disorders.

Human Herpesvirus 8 or Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus; Real Time PCR; Subtypes; Lymphoproliferative Disorders; Cuban; HIV/AIDS

Ariel, M. , Vivian, K. , Orestes, B. , Virginia, C. , Yoandra, A. , Yoan, A. , Denis, V. , Narciso, J. , Iraida, C. , Gilberto, F. , Yaumara, U. , Odalys, C. , Alina, Á. and Hengge, U. (2013) The Role of Human Herpesvirus 8 Molecular Characterization in the Management of HIV Infected Patients Diagnosed with Malignancies Associated with Its Infection. World Journal of AIDS, 3, 221-230. doi: 10.4236/wja.2013.33030.