Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 1995 Sep 23;346(8978):799-802.
doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91619-9.

Detection of Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus in peripheral blood of HIV-infected individuals and progression to Kaposi's sarcoma

D Whitby  1 , M R Howard, M Tenant-Flowers, N S Brink, A Copas, C Boshoff, T Hatzioannou, F E Suggett, D M Aldam, A S Denton, et al.
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Detection of Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus in peripheral blood of HIV-infected individuals and progression to Kaposi's sarcoma

D Whitby et al. Lancet. .

Abstract

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is consistently found in biopsy samples from patients with AIDS-related and "classical" Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Although highly suggestive of a causal role of KSHV in the pathogenesis of KS, this observation does not exclude the possibility that KSHV, like other herpesviruses, is widely distributed and is a mere "passenger" in these lesions. Here we report that KSHV was detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 24/46 (52%) of KS patients, but in none of 134 blood donors or 26 HIV-uninfected hospital controls. KSHV detection increased with immunosuppression, as shown by a correlation with a reduced number of CD4-positive T-cells. Moreover, KSHV detection in peripheral blood cells of HIV-infected individuals without KS predicted the subsequent appearance of KS lesions. 143 patients who did not have KS at the time of their first (or only) blood sample were followed up for a median of 30 months. Of the 11 who had been KSHV positive 6 developed KS compared with only 12 out of 132 who were KSHV negative. These findings are compatible with a causative role of KSHV in KS. KSHV was rarely detected in sputum and throat swabs of HIV-infected patients, providing a potential explanation for the apparently limited spread of this virus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms