AEGiS-11IAC: Detection of HHV-8 in subsets of blood cells from patients with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.

11th International AIDS Conference

Vancouver, British Columbia — July 7-12, 1996

Detection of HHV-8 in subsets of blood cells from patients with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.

Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:7 (abstract no. We.A.163)
Li JJ, Friedman-Kien AE, Huang YQ, Zhang WG, Feiner D; NYU Medical Center, Department of Microbiology, New York, NY, USA. Fax: 212-263-7933.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the subsets of peripheral blood cells (PBMC) infected by HHV-8 in patients with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).

METHODS: Twenty-five blood samples were collected from patients with Classic KS (4), AIDS-KS (14), HIV+ without KS (4) and HIV- healthy controls (3). Subsets of PBMC cells, including CD3, CD14, CD22 and endothelial cells, also found in PBMC, were isolated by magnetic separation. The isolated cells were confirmed by immunostaining with specific antibodies. DNAs were extracted from those isolated cell subsets and then subjected to PCR analysis using primers specific for HHV-8. The PCR products were analyzed by Southern blot hybridization using 32P-end-labeled probe; PCR results were further confirmed by in situ hybridization methods.

RESULTS: (See table)

Detection of HHV-8 in Subsets of PBMC Samples
Samples	CD3	CD14	CD22	Endothelial Cells
Classic KS	0/4	1/4	2/4	1/4
AIDS-KS	2/14	2/14	4/14	1/14
HIV-1 (+); no KS	0/4	0/4	0/4	0/4
Healthy Controls	0/3	0/3	0/3	0/3

CONCLUSION: The results show that: 1) HHV-8 can be detected in PBMC samples from KS patients; 2) the B subset of PBMC are the most prevalent cells found to contain HHV-8; 3) Other cell types such as CD3 cells, CD14 cells and endothelial cells found in blood could be infected by HHV-8. Our data suggest that blood could serve as a means of transmission for HHV-8 in patients with KS.

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