ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME-ASSOCIATED KAPOSIS-SARCOMA AND HUMAN-HERPESVIRUS-8 DNA DETECTION IN SERIAL PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELL SAMPLES

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) DNA was amplified from peripheral blood mon onuclear cells (PBMCs) using PCR in 120 HIV-seropositive in-and outpat ients who were enrolled in a cohort study between January 1994 and Jun e 1995. Risk factors for HN infection were homosexuality/bisexuality a lone in 64 cases (30 with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and 34 without KS, 4 o f whom had KS lesions that appeared during follow-up in the cohort), h eterosexual contact alone in 32 cases (among whom 1 woman with KS who was the spouse of a bisexual with KS), and transfusion of blood or blo od products alone in 24 cases. Three blood samples at 3-4-month interv als were scheduled for each patient. Twenty-five HIV1-seronegative pat ients served as controls. A total of 47.1% of homo- or bisexual males with KS and 26.7% of homo-or bisexual males without KS had positive HH V8 DNA detection as compared with 21.9% of patients contaminated by he terosexual contact, 8.3% of blood product recipients and 0% of control s. HHV8 DNA detection was intermittent in all but 3 patients according to sequential sampling. Multivariate analysis showed that AIDS-KS was associated with sexual transmission, mainly homo- or bisexual practic es and with HHV8 infection assessed by PCR in PBMCs.