Epidemiology of Human Herpesvirus Type 8 Infection in Cardiopathic Patients

Problem statement: The possible contribution of viruses to vascular pathology is still a controversial issue. Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) has been suggested to participate to the pathogenetic events associated with atherosclerotic lesion establishment and progression. Recently, a high incidence of infection of HHV-8 (11%) has been verified in the island of Sardinia. The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between the HHV-8 infection and cardiovascular diseases in the South of Sardinia. Approach: The presence of HHV-8 genome was detected in DNA extracted from peripheral leucocytes, by nested-PCR and Southern blotting, in either acute or chronic cardiopathic patients (n = 180); healthy blood donors were examined as controls (n = 108). Results: The results demonstrated a significant increase (p = 0.035) in HHV-8 DNA isolation from cardiopathic patients (22.8%) in comparison to healthy controls (12.0%). Conclusion: HHV8 infection can be considered, among others, as an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease development, although it was not necessarily the starting cause. More extensive studies were needed to define the exact role of HHV-8 infection in cardiopathic patients.