Xiao Wei. / Thesis submitted in: December 2002. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-109). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE VERSION) --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.v / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS --- p.xii / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Discovery of HHV8 --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Biology of HHV8 --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Morphology --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Classification --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Cell culture --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Latent and lytic life cycle --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Genome organisation --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Strain variability --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- Disease association of HHV8 --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Kaposi's sarcoma --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Other associated diseases --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4 --- Tropism of HHV8 --- p.11 / Chapter 1.5 --- Epidemiology of HHV8 --- p.13 / Chapter 1.5.1 --- Geographic distribution --- p.13 / Chapter 1.5.2 --- Age distribution --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5.3 --- HIV-infected individuals without Kaposi's sarcoma --- p.16 / Chapter 1.5.4 --- Bone marrow transplant and blood transfusion recipients --- p.19 / Chapter 1.5.5 --- Sexually transmitted disease clinic attendees --- p.18 / Chapter 1.5.6 --- HIV-negative intravenous drug users --- p.19 / Chapter 1.6 --- Transmission of HHV8 --- p.20 / Chapter 1.7 --- Methods for HHV8 antibody detection --- p.23 / Chapter 1.7.1 --- Antibodies against latent antigens --- p.23 / Chapter 1.7.2 --- Antibodies against lytic antigens --- p.24 / Chapter 1.7.3 --- Comparison between assays --- p.25 / Chapter 1.8 --- Project design --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Methods and Materials --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1 --- Study I. Seroprevalence of HHV8 in Hong Kong --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Study population --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Source of HHV8 antigens --- p.32 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Positive and negative controls --- p.34 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Procedures for immunofluorescence assay --- p.34 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Statistical methods --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2 --- Study II. Prevalence of HHV8 DNA in cervical scrapes --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Study population --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Preparation of cell lysate --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- PCR amplification for human beta-actin gene --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- PCR for HHV8 DNA --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Statistical methods --- p.45 / Chapter 2.3 --- Study III. HHV8 ORF 26 nucleotide sequence determination --- p.45 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Study samples --- p.45 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Sequencing method --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Nucleotide sequence data analysis --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Result --- p.51 / Chapter 3.1 --- Study I. Seroprevalence of HHV8 in Hong Kong populations --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Seroprevalence of HHV8 in reference group --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- HIV-negative intravenous drug users --- p.55 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- HIV-positive individuals without Kaposi's sarcoma --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Transfusion-dependent patients --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2 --- Study II. Prevalence of HHV8 DNA in cervical samples --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Optimisation of beta-actin PCR --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Optimisation of HHV8 ORF 26 PCR --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Analytical sensitivity of HHV8 nested PCR --- p.67 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- General female population --- p.67 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Sexually transmitted disease clinic attendees --- p.73 / Chapter 3.3 --- Study III. Sequence variation of HHV8 ORF 26 fragment --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Discussion --- p.84 / Chapter 4.1 --- Study I. Seroprevalence of HHV8 in Hong Kong populations --- p.85 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Distribution of HHV8 in reference group --- p.86 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- HIV-positive individuals without Kaposi's sarcoma --- p.87 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- HIV-negative intravenous drug users --- p.88 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Transfusion dependent patients --- p.88 / Chapter 4.2 --- Study II. Prevalence of HHV8 DNA in cervical samples --- p.89 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- General female population --- p.90 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Sexual transmitted disease clinic attendees --- p.90 / Chapter 4.3 --- Study III. HHV8 ORF 26 nucleotide sequence variation --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Sequence variability --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- HHV8 ORF26 genotyping --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Comparison with HHV8 isolates from other populations --- p.92 / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusions --- p.93 / REFERENCES --- p.95