PREVALENCE OF HUMAN-HERPESVIRUS-8 INFECTION MEASURED BY ANTIBODIES TOA LATENT NUCLEAR ANTIGEN IN PATIENTS WITH VARIOUS DERMATOLOGICAL DISEASES

Background: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been detected in all epide miological forms of Kaposi sarcoma (KS). The role of HHV-8 in dermatol ogic diseases other than KS is controversial. Some studies based on po lymerase chain reaction findings suggest an association between HHV-8 and epithelial tumors of the skin, lymphoproliferative disorders, or p emphigus. Objective: To assess the prevalence of antibodies against a latent nuclear antigen of HHV-8 in patients with various dermatologic diseases. Design: An indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to sea rch for HHV-8 antibodies. Setting: Ambulatory or hospitalized patients from a university hospital associated with a research laboratory. Pat ients: Eighty-three patients with various non-KS dermatologic diseases and 16 patients with KS who were seronegative for the human immunodef iciency virus. Controls were 100 healthy subjects living in the same a rea. Results: Antibodies to HHV-8 were found in 100% (16/16) of the pa tients with KS and 3.6% (3/83) of the patients with non-KS dermatologi c diseases: 1 patient with pemphigus vulgaris, 1 with discoid lupus er ythematosus, and 1 with bullous pemphigoid. The prevalence of antibodi es to HHV-8 in controls was 2% (2/100) and was not significantly diffe rent than the prevalence in patients with dermatologic diseases other than KS (P=.28). Conclusions: Our serologic study confirms the higher prevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in patients with KS ana demonstrates th at contrary to other human herpesviruses, HHV-8 is not a ubiquitous vi rus in France. We could not determine any causal association between H HV-8 and pemphigus or lymphoproliferative disorders of the skin.