LOCALIZATION OF KAPOSI SARCOMA-ASSOCIATED HERPESVIRUS IN BONE-MARROW BIOPSY SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE-MYELOMA

We have recently demonstrated the presence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associa ted herpesvirus (KSHV) in cultured bone marrow (BM) stromal dendritic cells from all patients with myeloma studied. To show that these findi ngs were not an artifact of tissue culture, we performed in situ hybri dization (ISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect KSHV in B M core biopsies. Using ISH to open reading frame-72 (ORF 72), we local ized KSHV to BM dendritic cells in 17 of 20 patients with myeloma, 2 p atients with plasmacytosis associated with the acquired immunodeficien cy syndrome, and 1 case of aplastic anemia. In contrast, BM from norma l subjects (n = 4) and patients with lymphoma and leukemia (n = 21) di d not contain KSHV. PCR amplification with KSHV primers demonstrated p roduct in fresh BM biopsy samples from 6 of 7 myeloma patients, wherea s three normal marrows contained no amplified product. These findings suggest that KSHV, possibly through alterations in the BM microenviron ment and production of viral interleukin-6 (vIL-6), may stimulate and maintain abnormal plasma cell proliferation in myeloma and related dis orders. (C) 1997 by The American Society of Hematology.