The prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in patients with Kaposi's sarconna (KS) or people at risk of developing KS is high, while that in low-risk populations remains unclear. Use of disparate serological assays for anti HHV-8 detection contributes to this uncertainty. Hypothesising that in populations at low risk of HHV-8, the detection of HHV-8 genome enhances the specificity of and lends sensitivity to estimations of HHV-8 prevalence, studies were conducted to compare the genoprevalence and molecular epidemiology of HHV-8 in UK subpopulations at varying risk of HIV infection or KS: blood donors, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients, and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). A protocol for amplifying sub-genomic HHV-8 DNA was first developed using blood originating from HIV-seropositive patients, from which CD45+ cells were immunomagnetically separated and their extracted DNA submitted to nested PCR. It was determined that such an approach afforded greater sensitivity to HHV-8 DNA detection than approaches based on PCR applied to separated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Using the improved protocol, DNA from open reading frame (ORF) 26 of the HHV-8 genome could be amplified from 24% of blood donor samples. In a subsequent donor group, DNA from ORFs 26 and K1 was detectable in 8% and 9%, respectively. ORF K1 sequences could be classified as belonging to genotypes A1, A4 and C3. HHV-8 seropositivity in the second group was 12% and 24%, as determined by two antibody assays, and The Genotypic characterisation of Human Herpes Virus 8 in Different Groups. herpes simplex virus-2 seropositivity was 0%. No associations were found between HHV-8 genome and anti HHV-8 detection. The findings in the BMT and CFS groups further substantiate the hypothesis that HHV-8 infection is more widespread than previously thought, carriers may not mount antibody responses detectable by current serological assays, and the principal HHV-8 transmission route is not sexual.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:724595 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Singh, Navdeep |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1446698/ |
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