Human herpesvirus 8 is not detectable in lesions of large plaque parapsoriasis, and in early-stage sporadic, familial, and juvenile cases of mycosis fungoides

BackgroundHuman herpesvirus (HHV) 8, an essential etiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma, is also associated with several lymphoproliferative disorders. The involvement of HHV 8 in mycosis fungoides (MF) and large plaque parapsoriasis (LPP) is controversial, with contradictory reports from various countries worldwide.ObjectiveWe sought to investigate the presence of the HHV 8 genome in skin lesions of LPP and early-stage sporadic, familial, and juvenile MF in patients in Israel.MethodsArchival paraffin-embedded and frozen samples from skin biopsies of untreated patients with LPP and early-stage MF performed in 1990 through 2006 were randomly collected from the department of dermatology of a tertiary medical center in central Israel. DNA was extracted, and a TaqMan-based real-time polymerase chain reaction assay specific for the K6 gene region was used to detect the HHV 8 genome.ResultsA total of 46 biopsies were sampled from 11 patients with LPP and 35 with early-stage MF (17 adults with sporadic MF, 10 children, and 8 patients with familial MF). In all, 44 samples were negative for HHV 8 DNA; two samples from adults with sporadic MF were positive.LimitationsThe presence of HHV 8 antibodies or virus sequences was not assessed in peripheral blood.ConclusionThe results of this study, conducted in a region relatively endemic for HHV 8, support most earlier studies showing a lack of association of HHV 8 infection with LPP and sporadic adult-type MF. To our knowledge, the lack of association of HHV 8 infection with juvenile and familial MF has not been previously reported.