DETECTION OF HHV-8 IN AUTOPSY SAMPLES FROM AIDS PATIENTS

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, is the most recently identified human herpesvirus. A key question regarding HHV-8 is the location of infected cells within HHV-8 seropositive individuals. Outside of tumor tissues, HHV-8 viral proteins have been detected in saliva, circulating B cells, and semen of some, but not all HHV-8 seropositive individuals. HHV-8 is the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and is associated with two other distinct proliferative disorders: primary effusion lymphoma and some forms of multicentric Castleman's disease. To better understand viral infection including the cellular targets of infection, we have begun a systematic screening of autopsy tissues from HHV-8 seropositive men who died with AIDS. Using immunohistochemistry (IHC), my goals were to determine reservoirs of HHV-8 infection and latency in organ tissues, determine the type of viral infection (lytic and/or latent) of each tissue type, and attempt to identify the infected cell type. In this report, using IHC, we document the presence of HHV-8 infected cells in several organs including kidney, lung, liver, and gastrointestinal tract samples from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Both lytic and latent infections have been detected and the infected cells appear to consist of both immune and non-immune cells. These results demonstrate the ability of HHV-8 to establish infections in various organs which may affect the pathogenesis of the virus in infected individuals. Kaposi's sarcoma is currently a major public health concern, as it is the most common malignancy found in individuals with AIDS and iatrogenic KS is a key concern in the field of solid-organ transplantation. This study will attempt to identify reservoirs of HHV-8 infection within the body in order to better understand the biology of HHV-8 in infected individuals, and the role HHV-8 plays in disease pathogenesis