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Review
. 2024 Dec;96(12):e70105.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.70105.

Viral Load Measurements for Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV8): Review and an Updated Assay

Patricio Cano  1 , Tischan Seltzer  1 , Jedediah Seltzer  1 , Alice Peng  1 , Justin Landis  1 , Linda Pluta  1 , Dirk P Dittmer  1
Affiliations
Review

Viral Load Measurements for Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV8): Review and an Updated Assay

Patricio Cano et al. J Med Virol. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

"When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it." is a famous quote attributed to Lord Kelvin. This sentiment puts viral load measurements at the center of virology. Viral load, or more precisely, DNA copy number measurements, are also used to follow infections with human herpesviruses, such as Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). EBV and KSHV are associated with human cancers, and determining their DNA copy numbers in the context of cancer prediction and progression on therapy is of fundamental scientific and translational interest. Yet, there is no generally accepted assay for KSHV DNA quantitation, and KSHV viral load is not used in clinical decision-making. Here, we review the history of KSHV DNA detection assays, explore factors that affect sensitivity and specificity, and describe an automated, high-throughput, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for KSHV and EBV. In conjunction with a digital PCR assay using the same primer/probe combination, we describe how to determine the absolute KSHV genome copy numbers in plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, saliva, and other easily accessible body fluids.

Keywords: Castleman's disease; EBV; KSHV; Kaposi sarcoma; MCD; PEL; lymphoma; real‐time QPCR.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests. Neither the funders nor the University of North Carolina had any role in the study design, data collection, interpretation, or the opinions represented here. This work was funded by public health service grants CA019014 and DE018304 to DPD.

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