ENHANCED DETECTION OF HUMAN HERPESVIRUS-8 AND CYTOMEGALOVIRUS IN SEMEN OF HIV-SEROPOSITIVE ASYMPTOMATIC HETEROSEXUAL MEN LIVING IN CENTRAL AFRICA

In sub-Saharan Africa there are relatively high incidences of non-HIV-associated endemic Kaposis sarcoma (KS) and because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of AIDS-associated KS. AIDS-associated KS has been reported in 5-25% of patients with full-blown AIDS. The high incidence of KS in HIV-infected and non-infected African populations probably reflects the high prevalence of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) the recently identified etiological agent responsible for all forms of KS. Semen specimens were obtained for analysis from 15 exclusively heterosexual HIV-1-infected men aged 25-43 years of mean age 34 attending the National Reference Center for Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Bangui Central African Republic. All of the men were clinically asymptomatic without evidence of cutaneous KS. 15 HIV-seronegative healthy men living in Bangui and age-matched with the cases served as controls. Overall HHV-8 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA were more often detected in semen samples from the HIV-infected men than in the semen from the healthy HIV-negative donors. HHV-8 shedding was seen in more than half of the semen samples from the HIV-infected men without KS and less frequently in semen from the controls. The viral burden of HHV-8 in genital secretions was low. The increased shedding of HHV-8 in HIV-infected men may be due to reactivation of latent HHV-8 in male urogenital tissues secondary to immunosuppression. Study findings indicate that HHV-8 infection is prevalent in a substantial proportion of the healthy adult population and lend support to the argument that semen could play a role in the sexual transmission of the virus. The distribution of KS in human populations corresponds well with the distribution of HHV-8.