ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) shows a distinct geographical and ethnic distribution. Genes at both ends of the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) genome have been shown to vary considerably. Seven major molecular subtypes of HHV-8 were defined based on the amino acid sequence of the open reading frame K1 (orf-K1). The aim of the present study was to characterize HHV8 isolates from hospitalized patients in Hungary. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 36 archival paraffin-embedded Kaposi's sarcoma tissue samples were collected. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out on the extracted DNA, using specific primers for HHV-8. After identifying the presence of HHV-8 by amplification of its orf26 region, the orf-K1 region was amplified, sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: From the 36 orf26-positive cases, orf-K1 was amplified and was analyzed successfully in 12 cases. Phylogenetic studies, based on the complete K1 gene/protein sequences, indicate that all strains belong to the A subtype. Specifically, six of them were related to the A1 subgroup, six to the A2 subgroup and three previously reported to the A3 subgroup. Nucleotide sequence data are reported and are available in the Genbank database under accession numbers KF829938-KF829947.
Subject(s)
Herpesvirus 8, Human/classification , Sarcoma, Kaposi/virology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Amino Acid Sequence , Base Sequence , DNA, Viral/blood , DNA, Viral/genetics , Female , Herpesvirus 8, Human/genetics , Herpesvirus 8, Human/isolation & purification , Humans , Hungary/epidemiology , Male , Molecular Epidemiology , Molecular Sequence Data , Molecular Typing , Paraffin Embedding , Phylogeny , Sarcoma, Kaposi/blood , Sarcoma, Kaposi/epidemiology , Sequence AlignmentABSTRACT
Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) infection of 130 Hungarian HIV-positive individuals with or without Kaposi's sarcoma was investigated from 158 serum and 122 peripheral blood samples using anti-latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), recombinant orf65 and orfK8.1 antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), Western blot assays and orf26 specific nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The overall prevalence of HHV-8 infection was found to be 31.5% (41/130) among the Hungarian HIV-positive patients. This seroprevalence rate is 7-11-fold higher than that of healthy HIV-negative blood donors in Hungary. The highest prevalence of HHV-8 infection (36.1%, 35/97) was observed in homo- or bisexual patients. Similar to the serologic results, HHV-8 DNA was not always detectable in all serial samples previously shown to be positive for HHV-8 DNA.