Journal of School of Public Health and

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Background and Aim: Human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus, is believed to be the infectious trigger for Kaposi sarcoma. HHV-8 transmission takes place via different routes such as saliva, sexual intercourse, mucosal contact and possibly blood transfusion. The objective of this study was to determine HHV-8 seroprevalence in otherwise healthy blood donors as immunocompetent hosts, in HIV positive individuals (immunocompromised hosts), and in hemodialysis patients as multi-transfused patients. This is the first time that research of this magnitude on HHV-8 prevalence is conducted in Iran.
Material and Methods: The study method was analytic-observational. We measured HHV-8 antibody levels in 118 hemodialysis patients, 35 HIV positive subjects and 256 healthy blood donors. The primary test method was ELISA positive results were confirmed by IFA (immunofluorescence assay). Subjects with positive results on both ELISA and IFA were regarded as HHV-8 cases.
Results: Overall, 20 hemodialysis patients (16.9%), 16 HIV individuals (45.7%) and 5 blood donors (2%) had HHV-8 antibodies. Analysis with χ2 tests did not show any significant association with sex (p=0.24), blood transfusion or the number of transfused blood units (p=0.36 and 0.73, respectively). But there was positive correlation between age and the presence of antibodies (P=0.01).
Conclusion: Serologic prevalence of HHV-8 in blood donors (as apparently healthy individuals) proved to be lower than in other studies and, in some cases, equal to the figures from other countries. The high prevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in HIV positive individuals may be partly attributed to high-risk sexual behavior and repeated exposure to pathogenic agents. The higher prevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in hemodialysis patients as compared to blood donors (normal individuals) may be related to specific dialysis procedures or multiple transfusions with the resulting potential for infection.

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Background and Aim: Considering the lack of information on the occurrence of the epidemic form of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and the high prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients (46%), it was decided to estimate the incidence of KS in this group. Based on the fact that active HHV-8 infection leads to KS development, it is essential to first assess the prevalence of active HHV-8 infection in these patients. Most of the Iranian HIV-infected patients are not aware that they are HIV-positive. If the prevalence of HHV-8 infection is high in these patients, they may spread HHV-8 in the community by high-risk sexual behaviors, which would lead to an increase in the incidence of classic Kaposi’s sarcoma. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HHV-8 among HIV-infected subjects.

Materials and Methods: One-hundred plasma samples from HIV-infected patients were collected. Genome was extracted and assessed by the nested PCR assay with specific primers for ORF26. Positive samples were amplified for the ORF K1 region by nested-PCR. Subsequently their products were sequenced and their phylogenic trees constructed.

Results: HHV-8 was detected in 8 of the patients (8%). No statistically significant associations were found between age and gender on the one hand and HHV-8 infection on the other (p > 0.05). Two genotypes, namely, A and C, were identified, the former in two patients and the latter in one.

Conclusion: Although the prevalence of HHV-8 infection is high among Iranian HIV-infected patients, active HHV-8 infection rate is low among them. Therefore, it seems that the incidence of epidemic KS is likely to be very low in this group. Certainly more research is needed in this area. As regards genotypes, genotypes A and C are found in the samples.