Human herpes virus 8 infection in kidney transplant patients in Belgium.
(2000) Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association — Vol. 15, n° 9, p. 1443-1445 (2000)
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- Kaposi sarcoma (KS) may arise as a complication of kidney transplantation. In the Saint Luc Teaching Hospital in Brussels, patients of both Belgian and foreign origin are treated. The prevalence of human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) infection differs in different geographical settings. We wanted to estimate the background infection rate and the risk of infection in our transplant population: a first step towards evaluating the necessity of HHV-8 screening. Serum samples were taken from 210 organ donors over a period of 7 years (30 per year) and from 200 kidney recipients from whom two sera were tested, one pre-transplant and the second 6-12 months post-transplant. All sera were screened for HHV-8 by an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay using recombinant ORF 65 and ORF 73 antigens and an immunofluorescence assay for the latent antigen. Reactive samples were confirmed by western blotting. Seven donors (3.3%) were positive for HHV-8 antibodies. Of 198 pre-transplant sera available for evaluation, 15 were positive (7.6%). Post-transplantation 18/199 (9%) were positive: four (2.1% of negatives) had a documented seroconversion and one lost the antibodies. No patients developed KS. A substantial number of kidney transplant patients already had antibodies to HHV-8 at the time of transplantation. A further 2.1% of seronegative patients had seroconversion, which could have been acquired through the transplanted organ (3.3% of donors were positive) or through transfusion.
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Sheldon, J., HENRY, S., Mourad, M., Bodéus, M., Squifflet, J. P., Schulz, T. F., & Goubau, P. (2000). Human herpes virus 8 infection in kidney transplant patients in Belgium. Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association, 15(9), 1443-1445. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/15.9.1443 (Original work published 2000)