KSHV genotypes A and C are more frequent in Kaposi sarcoma lesions from Brazilian patients with and without HIV infection, respectively

The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of KSHV genotypes isolated from Kaposi sarcoma (KS) lesions in patients from Brazil. Fifty KS cases were evaluated. The most frequently detected viral genotypes were A (50.0%) and C (48.0%); the B genotype was isolated only in one case (2.0%). Noteworthy, there was a significant predominance of A genotypes in KS lesions from HIV-positive patients, whereas C genotypes were found mostly in the HIV-negative setting. This finding supports the hypothesis that distinct KSHV genotypes have a non-random distribution in KS, which might be attributable to unique biological properties.