The atomic weight of antimony; preliminary notice of additional experiments

Abstract

<b><i>Background</i></b><i>:</i> Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) DNA is found consistently in all types of Kaposi9s sarcoma (KS), which is sometimes seen in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) non-infected patients with immunologic abnormalities. Lung carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies developing in immunocompromised patients. However, the prevalence of HHV-8 infection in lung carcinoma patients is unclear. <b><i>Methods</i></b><i>:</i> Blood samples were collected from 109 lung carcinoma patients with malignant pleural effusion and 109 age-matched healthy controls and analyzed for lymphocyte and monocyte counts, and presence of HHV-8 antibody and DNA. All study subjects were negative for anti-HIV antibodies. <b><i>Results</i></b><i>:</i> Lung carcinoma patients had significantly lower mean lymphocyte counts and significantly higher monocyte counts than the healthy controls (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.001). Three patients with lymphopenia and stage IV tumor were positive for HHV-8 DNA , one of them was negative for HHV-8 antibody. HHV-8 positivity was significantly higher in patients (42.2%), particularly in male patients (50.8%), than in healthy controls (24.8%) (<i>P</i> = 0.006 and &lt; 0.001, respectively). HHV-8 positivity was significantly greater in male patients (50.8%) than in female patients (29.5%) (<i>P</i> = 0.028), and in patients with stage IV tumors somewhat greater than with stage III B tumors (<i>P</i> = 0.416). HHV-8 antibody titers in patients also significantly exceeded those in healthy controls (<i>P </i>= 0.004). All subjects positive for HHV-8 were not associated with clinical manifestations of HHV-8 infection. <b><i>Conclusions</i></b><i>:</i> HHV-8 seroprevalence was significantly greater in lung carcinoma patients than in healthy controls, and associated with gender.