Evaluation of human herpesvirus type 8 infection in childhood Langerhans cell histiocytosis

The etiology of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is unknown. Viral causes, including human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV6), have been suggested but remain unproved. The recently discovered human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV8), the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma, infects dendritic cells in the bone marrow as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of hematology 2000-08, Vol.64 (4), p.237-241
Main Authors: Jenson, Hal B., McClain, Kenneth L., Leach, Charles T., Deng, Jian‐Hong, Gao, Shou‐Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AIDS/HIV
Biological and medical sciences
Child, Preschool
dendritic cells
Female
Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases
Herpesviridae Infections - complications
Herpesvirus 8, Human - isolation & purification
histiocytosis
Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell - etiology
Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell - virology
human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV8)
Humans
Infant
Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Male
Medical sciences
Other diseases. Hematologic involvement in other diseases
Prevalence
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The etiology of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is unknown. Viral causes, including human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV6), have been suggested but remain unproved. The recently discovered human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV8), the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma, infects dendritic cells in the bone marrow associated with multiple myeloma. Evidence for an association of HHV8 infection with LCH in children was studied by two approaches: indirectly by HHV8‐specific serologic assays and directly by detection of HHV8 sequences using polymerase chain reaction in affected bone marrow samples. Using three different assays specific for HHV8 antibodies, 3 of 10 (30%) children with LCH had detectable HHV8 antibodies, which was not different from the prevalence of 5 of 30 (17%) in healthy controls of similar age (P = 0.65). Of bone marrow samples from three additional children with LCH, all had amplifiable DNA but were negative for HHV8 sequences. These studies of a small number of patients do not demonstrate an increased prevalence of HHV8 infection in children with LCH, and they do not suggest a causal role for HHV8 in the etiology of LCH. Am. J. Hematol. 64:237–241, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0361-8609
1096-8652
DOI:10.1002/1096-8652(200008)64:4<237::AID-AJH1>3.0.CO;2-D