Presence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) DNA sequences in patients with lymphoproliferative diseases and chronic blood disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), but it has also been associated with different hematologic malignancies, including plasmablastic lymphoma, Multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and various atypical lymphoproliferative disorders. Patients with underlying lymphoproliferative diseases and chronic blood disorders who become infected with this virus are at risk for human malignancies. This small study reported the frequency of human herpesvirus 8 in 81 Iranian patients with lymphoproliferative disorders for estimation of possible factors affecting malignancy.

METHODS: The laboratory records of 81 patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)samples, which were tested for detection of HHV-8 open reading frame (ORF) 26 DNA by nested PCR amplification during the period from Sept. 2014 to Sept. 2015, were reviewed retrospectively at the Firouzgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

RESULTS: Of 81 subjects, 28 were non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), 19 were Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), 20 were acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), 11 were chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and 2 were multiple myeloma (MM). HHV-8 was detected in 16 (19.8%) of the 81 patients. Five out of the sixteen positive patients had CLL followed by 4 NHL, 4 HL and 3ALL.

CONCLUSION: We conclude that HHV-8 can be considered as one of the predisposing factors of malignancy in patients with lymphoproliferative and chronic blood disorders. Furthermore, it does not rule out the possibility that other immunological triggers and environmental risk factors may account for their etiopathogenesis.