Infection with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus among families of patients with classic Kaposi's sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Classic Kaposi's sarcoma (CKS) primarily affects elderly Mediterranean or Eastern European men. Incidence rates of CKS in Israel are among the world's highest. In practically all cases, antibodies against Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) can be detected. A relatively high seroprevalence rate of KSHV in Israel generally correlates with the incidence of CKS. A sexual mode of virus transmission is recognized among homosexual men, whereas the precise transmission routes in the heterosexual population and those with CKS are still unclear. OBJECTIVE: To better assess the transmission routes of KSHV in Israeli patients with CKS and their first-degree relatives as compared with a control group. DESIGN: Serum was collected from all study participants and tested for KSHV antibodies by means of latent and lytic immunofluorescence assays. An open reading frame 65 (ORF65) Western blot assay was applied as a confirmatory tool. SETTING: Three dermatological departments in Israel. PATIENTS: Sixty-four Jewish patients with CKS, 143 of their first-degree relatives, and 186 hospital-based control subjects. RESULTS: Seropositivity to KSHV was detected in 62 (96.9%) of the patients with CKS, in 56 (39.2%) of their first-degree relatives, and in only 21 (11.3%) of the hospital controls (P<.001). The specific relationship with the index patient (spouse, offspring, or sibling) had no significant effect on the prevalence of serpositivity in the family members. CONCLUSION: Our serologic evidence of familial clustering of KSHV infection suggests a predominantly nonsexual horizontal transmission route of the virus.

Absence of Kaposi sarcoma among Ethiopian immigrants to Israel despite high seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) seropositivity in Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel. METHODS: A Western blot assay was used to determine the seroprevalence of HHV-8 in serum samples from 202 randomly selected human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative and 47 HIV-positive Ethiopian immigrants; samples were obtained on arrival of the immigrants in Israel. The Israel Cancer Registry provided comprehensive data on the occurrence of KS among Ethiopian immigrants and in the non-Ethiopian population of Israel. RESULTS: A total of 39.1% and 57% of the HIV-negative and HIV-positive Ethiopians, respectively, were infected with HHV-8 (P<.03). However, none of the Ethiopians examined and none of the other HIV-negative Ethiopians among about 45,000 immigrants had KS. Moreover, only 1 (0.85%) of 118 Ethiopian patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) developed KS compared with 49 (12.5%) of 391 non-Ethiopian AIDS patients (P<.001). CONCLUSION: Although HHV-8 infection is common in Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel, these patients almost never develop KS, in marked contrast to the strong association usually observed. The mechanism behind this population's unique protection requires further study.

Effect of helium/neon laser irradiation on nerve growth factor synthesis and secretion in skeletal muscle cultures.

Low energy laser irradiation therapy in medicine is widespread but the mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism by which the light might induce therapeutic effects. Skeletal muscle cultures were chosen as a target for light irradiation and nerve growth factor (NGF) was the biochemical marker for analysis. It was found that there is a transient elevation of intracellular calcium in the myotubes immediately after irradiation (P<0.001). Preincubation of the myotubes with either the photosensitizers 5-amino-levulinic acid (5-ALA), or with hematoporphyrin (Hp) enhanced the elevation of cytosolic calcium (P<0.001) after helium/neon irradiation (633 nm) with an energy of 3 J/cm(2). In addition, helium/neon irradiation augmented the level of NGF mRNA fivefold and increased NGF release to the medium of the myotubes. Thus, it is speculated that transient changes in calcium caused by light can modulate NGF release from the myotubes and also affect the nerves innervating the muscle. The NGF is probably responsible for the beneficial effects of low-level light.