Diagnosis optimization for the human herpesvirus type 8

N.D. Lvov, E.M. Panyukova, M.V. Mezentseva

National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamaleya, Moscow

Aim: to study an association of immunological parameters with human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) markers for the laboratory variants determination of viral reproduction and human immunity condition in patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and prognostic markers selection of the disease exacerbation.
Patients and Methods: 22 patients with KS underwent a comprehensive study. The following methods were applied in this study: ELISA for the HHV-8 small capsid protein (SCP) IgG determination in human serum and polymerase chain reaction for the HHV-8 DNA determination in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and in a biopsy sample from the KS focus. The production of interferon α (IFN-α), interleukins IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 RA).
Results: a correlation between the HHV-8 SCP IgG detection and reduced IFN-α values, as well as between the HHV-8 DNA detection and increased IL-1 RA values, were found. The highest IFN-α levels in patients with KS were observed in the absence of HHV-8 antibodies. The IL-1 RA median value in patients with detected HHV-8 DNA was 838 pg/ml, and in patients without detected DNA — 187.5 pg/ml (p=0.0015). The proinflammatory IL-1β level increase in the patients’ serum with the HHV-8 IgG presence (p=0.0016) was shown. It was also shown that the HHV-8 DNA detection in the PBMC revealed higher IL-6 values and lower IL-8 values in patients’ serum with KS.
Conclusion: prognostic markers determination of the HHV-8 exacerbation and 4 KS laboratory variants selection were conducted, which can improve the HHV-8 diagnosis effectiveness to carry out a set of prophylactic measures for KS progression prevention.

Keywords: human herpesvirus type 8, Kaposi’s sarcoma, enzyme immunoassay, polymerase chain reaction, immunoglobulin G, interferon α, interleukin, IL-1 receptor antagonist.
For citation: Lvov N.D., Panyukova E.M., Mezentseva M.V. Diagnosis optimization for the human herpesvirus type 8. RMJ. 2019;1(II):62–65.