Angiosarcoma in HIV-negative patients is not associated with HHV-8

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Angiosarcoma is an aggressive, malignant neoplasm of vascular or lymphatic origin. Herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) is a member of the herpes family with a tropism for endothelial cells and it has been proven to induce vascular neoplasms, such as Kaposi's sarcoma. The role of HHV-8 in the pathogenesis of angiosarcoma has not been well defined. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the presence of HHV-8 and angiosarcoma. METHODS: In this study, the team investigated the relationship between the presence of HHV-8, as determined by polymerase chain reaction, and angiosarcoma, using samples from patients with epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma as controls. RESULTS: While all control cases with epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma were positive for HHV-8, none of the angiosarcoma cases was. CONCLUSION: These findings support most previous studies that found no association between HHV-8 and angiosarcoma.

Estudo epidemiológico do HPV na mucosa oral por meio de PCR / Epidemiological study of HPV in oral mucosa through PCR

Pertencente à família Papillomaviridae, o papilomavírus humano (HPV) é formado por um capsídeo e uma única fita dupla de DNA. Sua infecção ocorre principalmente por forma sexual, apresentando grande tropismo por células cutâneas e mucosas. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a presença do HPV em mucosa oral de pacientes assintomáticos e em paralelo correlacionar os hábitos sociais comportamentais com a presença viral. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Estudo de coorte contemporânea com corte transversal. O diagnóstico da presença viral foi realizado por PCR, utilizando os primers gerais MY09/11 em 125 amostras de mucosa oral, submetidas à extração de DNA e PCR para a pesquisa do gene da beta-globina para avaliação da qualidade do DNA extraído. Em paralelo, foi realizado um estudo de questões comportamentais dos pacientes. RESULTADOS: Todas as amostras apresentaram o diagnóstico positivo para o gene da betaglobina. O HPV foi diagnosticado em 23,2% das amostras analisadas. CONCLUSÃO: O vírus esteve presente em 29 dos 125 pacientes, sem que estes apresentassem qualquer manifestação clinicopatológica relacionada com o HPV. Quanto ao comportamento social dos pacientes, concluiu-se que a prática de sexo oral está correlacionada de forma estatisticamente significante com a presença viral, além de o HPV ter sido estatisticamente mais prevalente em pacientes do sexo feminino.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) belongs to the Papillomaviridae family and has a capsid and a single DNA strand. Its infection occurs mainly through sexual intercourse, having an important tropism for skin and mucosal cells. AIM: To evaluate the HPV presence in normal oral mucosa of asymptomatic subjects and; in parallel, to correlate social behavioral habits with the virus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Contemporary cohort cross-sectional study. The HPV was found by PCR, using general primers MY09/11 in 125 oral mucosa samples submitted to DNA extraction and PCR to search for the beta-globin gene in order to assess the quality of the extracted DNA. In parallel, we carried out a study of behavioral issues associated with the patients. RESULTS: All the samples had a positive diagnosis of the beta-hemoglobin gene. HPV was diagnosed in 23.2% of the samples analyzed. CONCLUSION: The virus was present in 29 of the 125 patients, without them having any clinical-pathological manifestation associated with the HPV. As to the social behavior of the patients, we concluded that oral sex is statistically correlated to the virus, and besides the HPV has been statistically more present in female patients.