Search results for "Herpesviridae Infections"
showing 10 items of 49 documents
Human herpesvirus type 8 DNA sequences in biological samples of HIV-positive and negative individuals in Sicily.
1997
Objective: To evaluate the circulation of a new human herpesvirus (HHV), HHV-8 or Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus in a geographical area where a high incidence rate of classical KS was already present before the appearance of the AIDS epidemic. Design and methods: The study was carried out by analysing: (i) bioptic samples from classic, AIDS-associated KS, and controls; (ii) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from classic KS, HIV-positive subjects with and without KS and healthy HIV-negative individuals; (iii) semen samples from heterosexual HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals affected or not by KS; and (iv) cervical swabs from HIV-negative healthy heterosexual fem…
Risk factors for classical Kaposi's sarcoma.
2002
Background: Classical Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a malignancy of lymphatic endothelial skin cells. Although all forms of KS are associated with the KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), classical KS occurs in a small fraction of KSHV-infected people. We sought to identify risk factors for classical KS in KSHV-infected individuals. Methods: Lifestyle and medical history data from case patients with biopsyproven non-AIDS (non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) KS in Italy were compared by logistic regression analysis with data from population-based KSHV-seropositive control subjects of comparable age and sex. After KSHV immunofluorescence testing, randomly selected patients on the rosters of local…
A Common Genetic Variant inFCGR3A-V158F and Risk of Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus Infection and Classic Kaposi Sarcoma
2005
Associations of FCGR3A among men with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome suggest that host responses affect the pathogenesis of Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) infection and risk of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome – associated Kaposi sarcoma. Using DNA from two HIV seronegative case-control populations in Italy, we examined whether the functional FCGR3A-V158F variant was associated with risk of KSHV infection or classic Kaposi sarcoma (CKS). In population I, we examined FCGR3A variants and risk of KSHV infection in 34 KSHV latent nuclear antigen (LANA)-seropositive and 120 LANAseronegative adults from Sardinia (52% male; median age, 45 years; range, 31-60), whereas in population II…
PREDICTION OF SEVERE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS USING EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS
1994
One of the immunological abnormalities in patients with RA is increased synthesis of immunoglobulins (Ig) in cultures of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-) stimulated lymphocytes. We set out to investigate whether this feature, seen early in the disease, associated with later severe RA. We studied prospectively 45 patients with recent onset RA and, 41 healthy individuals. From 0-6 months after admission, blood lymphocytes were cultured in the presence of EBV for 4 weeks and Ig in the supernatants were assayed. To assess the severity of disease, clinical, laboratory and radiological evaluations were performed every 6 months for 2 yr. The association of increased Ig production with the severity of RA …
Host immunogenetics and control of human herpesvirus-8 infection
2006
BACKGROUND: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is primarily caused by human herpesvirus (HHV)-8 infection, and the risk is increased with high HHV-8 lytic or latent antibody titers or the detection of HHV-8 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Host genes important for control of HHV-8 infection are not well characterized. METHODS: In 172 HHV-8 latent nuclear antigen (LANA)-seropositive adults in Italy without KS, we examined correlations of common variants in host immune genes with the detection of HHV-8 DNA in PBMCs and with high lytic and latent antibody titers. Twenty-eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 14 genes were analyzed. We detected HHV-8 DNA in PBMCs with real-time amplificati…
Prevalence of blood-borne viral infections (cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus-6, human herpesvirus-7, human herpesvirus-8, human T-cell lymphotropic…
2002
The identification of blood-borne viral infections is important in transfusion medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of human herpesvirus (HHV) [cytomegalovirus (CMV), HHV-6, HHV-7 HHV-8] and human retrovirus (HRV) (human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-I/II, HRV-5) infections among apparently healthy Latvian blood donors. DNA extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) of 150 individuals was tested for herpesviruses by sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. None of the blood donors was positive for HHV-8 infection, while the incidence of latent beta-herpesvirus infections was high: single infection by CMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7 was detected in 2.6%, …
Bone Marrow Findings in Multicentric Castleman Disease in HIV-negative Patients
2007
Because bone marrow histology in multicentric Castleman disease in human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients is not well reported, we investigated sequential bone marrow biopsies of 3 affected human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients, of which one was human herpes virus 8 (HHV8)-positive. The histologic evaluation of the bone marrow revealed lymphoid follicles with regressed germinal centers in 1 patient. Another patient showed tumorlike but bland polyclonal plasmacytosis with large perivascular plasma cell clusters. The HHV8-positive patient revealed interstitial HHV8-positive cells accompanied by a mild plasmacytosis. The atypical lymphoid follicles could be regarded as a bone …
Socio-economic and other correlates of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus seroprevalence among older adults in Sicily.
2009
The virus that causes Kaposi sarcoma, KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also known as human herpesvirus 8) has an unusual distribution and poorly characterized modes of transmission. To clarify these issues, socio-demographic correlates of KSHV seroprevalence were examined in a population-based study. In 1,154 randomly sampled adults (aged 32- 92, mean 71 years) throughout Sicily, KSHV antibodies were detected with four assays and a conservative algorithm. Seroprevalence was re-weighted to the population. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (OR, CI) from multivariate logistic regression were used to estimate associations of seroprevalence with interview data. KSHV seroprevalence was 8.…
Infection with human herpes virus type 8 in an area at high prevalence for hepatitis C virus infection in southern Italy
2004
Summary. The Campania Region is a geographical area of southern Italy characterized by high incidence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma and of classic Kaposi's sarcoma. Epidemiological investigations carried out among different population groups in this region have found high prevalence rates of both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8). To assess co-infection rates of HCV and HHV-8, we carried out a cross-sectional seroepidemiological study prevalence in Pomigliano d'Arco, a Health District of Campania located 20 km away from Naples. The overall rate of HCV/HHV-8 co-infection was 3.1%, 3.5% among men and 2.7% among women. No difference emerged in the HCV/HHV-8 co-i…
Second European evidence-based consensus on the prevention, diagnosis and management of opportunistic infections in inflammatory bowel disease
2014
The treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been revolutionised over the past decade by the increasing use of immunomodulators, mainly azathioprine (AZA)/6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and methotrexate (MTX), together with the advent of biological therapy. Immunomodulators are being used more often and earlier in the course of the disease.1 The introduction of biologic agents, especially inhibitors of the key proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) initiated a new therapeutic era, whose use has grown continuously since their introduction in 1998.2 With such immunomodulation, the potential for opportunistic infection is a key safety concern for patients with IBD. Opp…