Increased incidences of Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoid malignancies have been observed in patients with pemphigus, and the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is very strongly associated with these tumors. Because the virus may be one of the triggering factors of pemphigus, we undertook this study to screen for the presence of HHV-8 in chronic blistering skin diseases including pemphigus. A total of 45 paraffin-embedded specimens were studied using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers to amplify a 160-base pair HHV-8 fragment. HHV-8 DNA could be detected in 7 of 9 patients with pemphigus vulagris, and 1 of 2 with pemphigus foliaceus. All specimens of other blistering skin diseases were negative for HHV-8. On sequencing PCR products, the sequences were almost identical with the prototypic sequence for HHV-8, and a few base- pair substitutions at 1086C-T and 1139A-C were detected. The results of our study suggests that HHV-8 might have trophism for pemphigus lesions. Further studies including comparison of HHV-8 DNA load in both lesional and normal skin in the same patient, serological and animal studies would be helpful to study the relationship between HHV-8 and pemphigus.
Adult ; Comparative Study ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Viral/genetics ; DNA, Viral/analysis+ACo- ; Female ; Herpesviridae Infections/virology+ACo- ; Herpesviridae Infections/epidemiology ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/pathogenicity ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/isolation +ACY- purification+ACo- ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/genetics ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Paraffin Embedding ; Pemphigus/virology+ACo- ; Pemphigus/etiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin Diseases, Vesiculobullous/virology+ACo- ; Skin Diseases, Viral/virology+ACo- ; Skin Diseases, Viral/epidemiology ; Tissue Fixation

Increased incidences of Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoid malignancies have been observed in patients with pemphigus, and the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is very strongly associated with these tumors. Because the virus may be one of the triggering factors of pemphigus, we undertook this study to screen for the presence of HHV-8 in chronic blistering skin diseases including pemphigus. A total of 45 paraffin-embedded specimens were studied using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers to amplify a 160-base pair HHV-8 fragment. HHV-8 DNA could be detected in 7 of 9 patients with pemphigus vulagris, and 1 of 2 with pemphigus foliaceus. All specimens of other blistering skin diseases were negative for HHV-8. On sequencing PCR products, the sequences were almost identical with the prototypic sequence for HHV-8, and a few base- pair substitutions at 1086C-T and 1139A-C were detected. The results of our study suggests that HHV-8 might have trophism for pemphigus lesions. Further studies including comparison of HHV-8 DNA load in both lesional and normal skin in the same patient, serological and animal studies would be helpful to study the relationship between HHV-8 and pemphigus.
Adult ; Comparative Study ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Viral/genetics ; DNA, Viral/analysis+ACo- ; Female ; Herpesviridae Infections/virology+ACo- ; Herpesviridae Infections/epidemiology ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/pathogenicity ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/isolation +ACY- purification+ACo- ; Herpesvirus, Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated/genetics ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Paraffin Embedding ; Pemphigus/virology+ACo- ; Pemphigus/etiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin Diseases, Vesiculobullous/virology+ACo- ; Skin Diseases, Viral/virology+ACo- ; Skin Diseases, Viral/epidemiology ; Tissue Fixation