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. 2005 Mar;52(3 Pt 1):460-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2004.10.882.

Higher prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 DNA sequence and specific IgG antibodies in patients with pemphigus in China

Guan-Qing Wang  1 , Honghui Xu, Ya-Kun Wang, Xing-Hua Gao, Yuming Zhao, Chundi He, Naoki Inoue, Hong-Duo Chen
Affiliations

Higher prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 DNA sequence and specific IgG antibodies in patients with pemphigus in China

Guan-Qing Wang et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2005 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Environmental factors, including virus infection, may play a role in the onset and/or development of pemphigus. However, it is controversial whether human herpesvirus (HHV)-8 is involved in pathogenesis of pemphigus.

Objective: The possible association of pemphigus with HHV-8 was investigated.

Methods: A total of 36 lesional skin and 13 peripheral blood mononuclear cell specimens from 58 patients with pemphigus, and 18 normal skin and 230 peripheral blood mononuclear cell specimens from healthy individuals, were tested for HHV-8 DNA sequence by a nested polymerase chain reaction assay. In all, 29 sera from the patients and 109 sera from healthy individuals were tested for HHV-8-specific IgG antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using HHV-8-specific oligopeptides as antigens.

Results: Prevalence of both HHV-8 DNA sequence (36.1% and 30.8% in lesional skin and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, respectively) and HHV-8-specific IgG antibodies (34.5%) for patients with pemphigus was statistically higher than that of control subjects (<8% in both assays). There was no significant difference in HHV-8 prevalence among different types of pemphigus.

Conclusion: HHV-8 infection might be a contributing factor in the development of pemphigus.

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