| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
Prevalence of Human Herpesvirus-8 Salivary Shedding in HIV Increases with CD4 Count
1 University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 405 Irving Street, 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA; Correspondence: * corresponding author, mgandhi{at}itsa.ucsf.edu Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is the etiologic agent of Kaposis sarcoma (KS), which occurs in epidemic form in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-infected individuals. Saliva is the only mucosal fluid in which infectious HHV-8 has been identified, although factors associated with HHV-8 salivary shedding remain unclear. Our study performed PCR analysis for HHV-8 DNA in saliva (and other body fluids) in 66 HIV- and HHV-8-co-infected women without KS so that we could examine predictors for HHV-8 DNA detection. CD4 count was the most significant predictor of HHV-8 salivary shedding, with increased prevalence of HHV-8 salivary DNA at higher CD4 counts. The odds of salivary HHV8 shedding at CD4 counts > = 350 cells/µL was 63 times the odds of shedding at CD4 < 350 (95%CI, 1.3–3078), with an increase in effect size when the analysis was restricted to those with a CD4 nadir > 200. Analysis of these data suggests an increased potential for HHV-8 transmission early in HIV infection, with implications for HHV-8 prevention.
Key Words: HHV-8 Kaposis sarcoma HIV salivary shedding CD4 count
Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 83, No. 8,
639-643 (2004) This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||


