Non-Detection of Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) DNA in HHV-8-Seropositive Blood Donors from Three Brazilian Regions

José Eduardo Levi,Vanda Akico Ueda Fick De Souza,Claudio S Pannuti,Laura Masami Sumita,Wilton S Freire,Maria Claudia Nascimento,Philippe Mayaud,Clive M Gray

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023546

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the etiologic agent of all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and the plasmablastic cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease. In endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa, blood transfusions have been associated with a substantial risk of HHV-8 transmission. By contrast, several studies among healthy blood donors from North America have failed to detect HHV-8 DNA in samples of seropositive individuals. In this study, using a real-time PCR assay, we investigated the presence of HHV-8 DNA in whole-blood samples of 803 HHV-8 blood donors from three Brazilian states (São Paulo, Amazon, Bahia) who tested positive for HHV-8 antibodies, in a previous multicenter study. HHV-8 DNA was not detected in any sample. Our findings do not support the introduction of routine HHV-8 screening among healthy blood donors in Brazil. (WC = 140).

Highlights

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), known as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the etiologic agent of all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and the plasmablastic cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease [1]
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HHV-8 DNA in blood samples of apparently healthy HHV-8 seropositive blood donors to determine their potential for HHV-8 transmission
Despite testing a large number of HHV-8 seropositive blood donors by a stringent protocol of repeat and complementary PCRs, HHV-8 DNA could not be consistently detected in any blood sample

Summary

Introduction

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), known as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the etiologic agent of all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and the plasmablastic cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease [1]. Initial studies have suffered from a wide variability of serological assays. They uncovered the existence of different rates of HHV-8 worldwide. The highest prevalence rates were observed in areas where Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) was endemic, like in Eastern and Central Africa [2]. In these areas, seroprevalence in blood donors may be as high as 48%, as observed in Tanzania [3]. Brazil may be considered a region of intermediate endemicity, as we have detected a HHV-8 seroprevalence of 25% among 3,493 blood donors from three different regions of the country [7]

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Conclusion