Epidemiology and Genetic Variability of HHV-8/KSHV among Rural Populations and Kaposi's Sarcoma Patients in Gabon, Central Africa. Review of the Geographical Distribution of HHV-8 K1 Genotypes in Africa.

Antony Idam Mamimandjiami,Philippe V. Afonso,Antoine Mahé,Augustin Mouinga-Ondémé,Olivier Cassar,Jean-Bernard Lekana-Douki,Jill-Léa Ramassamy,Antoine Gessain,Délia Doreen Djuicy

doi:10.3390/v13020175

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the etiological agent of all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). K1 gene studies have identified five major molecular genotypes with geographical clustering. This study described the epidemiology of HHV-8 and its molecular diversity in Gabon among Bantu and Pygmy adult rural populations and KS patients. Plasma antibodies against latency-associated nuclear antigens (LANA) were searched by indirect immunofluorescence. Buffy coat DNA samples were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to obtain a K1 gene fragment. We studied 1020 persons; 91% were Bantus and 9% Pygmies. HHV-8 seroprevalence was 48.3% and 36.5% at the 1:40 and 1:160 dilution thresholds, respectively, although the seroprevalence of HHV-8 is probably higher in Gabon. These seroprevalences did not differ by sex, age, ethnicity or province. The detection rate of HHV-8 K1 sequence was 2.6% by PCR. Most of the 31 HHV-8 strains belonged to the B genotype (24), while the remaining clustered within the A5 subgroup (6) and one belonged to the F genotype. Additionally, we reviewed the K1 molecular diversity of published HHV-8 strains in Africa. This study demonstrated a high seroprevalence of HHV-8 in rural adult populations in Gabon and the presence of genetically diverse strains with B, A and also F genotypes.

Highlights

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), known as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), was first identified in 1994 in a skin tumor biopsy from an AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma [1]
To reduce the risk of false positive results, we considered the 1:160 dilution, which gave an overall HHV-8 seroprevalence of 36.5% in the study population
We found that 36% of the tested population was sero-reactive to latency-associated nuclear antigens (LANA) at a 1:160 dilution, and 2.6% were positive to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with most strains belonging to genotype B and at a lesser extent to genotypes A5 and F

Summary

Introduction

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), known as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), was first identified in 1994 in a skin tumor biopsy from an AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma [1]. This gammaherpesvirus is the etiological agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) [2,3,4] as well as primary effusion lymphoma [5] and most multicentric Castleman diseases and related lymphomas [6,7,8]. HHV-8 is endemic in the northwestern part of China [15] and in Amerindian populations in South America [16,17,18,19]. The incidence of KS is elevated in HHV-8 endemic populations

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Conclusion