Serologic association of human herpesvirus eight with posttransplant Kaposi's sarcoma in Saudi Arabia

Wajeh Quinibi, Othman Al-Furayh, Khalid Almeshari, Su Fang Lin, Ren Sun, Lee Heston, David Ross, Michael Rigsby, George Miller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: This study investigates the association between human herpesvirus eight (HHV8) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), the most common cancer occurring in renal transplant recipients in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross- sectional study of seroreactivity to HHV8 antigens in posttransplant KS patients from a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and in control subjects without KS was conducted. Seroreactivity rates were determined using immunoblotting essays to detect antibodies to two lytic cycle HHV8 antigens: p40, an antigen found in infected cells, and sVCA, an HHV8-encoded small viral capsid antigen expressed in Escherichia coli. Results: Antibodies to HHV8 p40 and sVCA were present in a significantly higher proportion of renal transplant patients with KS (13 of 14 patients) compared to renal transplant patients without KS (5 of 18; P<0.001) and compared to other control individuals (6 of 44; P<0.001). HHV8 seroreactivity was more common among patients with renal failure (28%) than among other control groups (7%). Conclusions: The serologic results provide evidence of a strong association between HHV8 and posttransplant KS in Saudi Arabia.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)583-585
Number of pages3
JournalTransplantation
Volume65
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 27 1998
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Transplantation

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