Prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 infection in patients undergoing hemodialysis using nested-PCR

Abstract

Objective: To study the prevalence of HHV-8 infection in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods: In this study, blood samples of 89 patients undergoing hemodialysis were collected. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and HHV-8 DNA was evaluated by nested-PCR. Results: Of total 89 patients, 51 (57.3%) were males and 38 (42.7%) were females. The patients’ age ranged from 24 to 90 years and the mean age was (57.5±1.4) years. HHV-8 DNA was found in 9 of 89 (10.1%) peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples, 8/51 (15.7%) in males and 1/38 (2.6%) in females (P=0.07). All patients who were positive for HHV8-DNA were more than 50 years old. Conclusions: This study shows high prevalence of HHV-8. Since hemodialysis patients are candidates for kidney transplantation and due to the possibility of HHV8-reactivation and its serious complications in immunocompromised patients, routine screening for detection of the virus should be implemented for all hemodialysis patients.

Keywords

• human herpesvirus 8
• hemodialysis patients
• nested-pcr