Treurnicht, Florette K.Engelbrecht, SusanTaylor, Maureen B.Schneider, Johann W.Janse van Rensburg, Estrelita2007-12-072007-12-072002-02Treurnicht, FK, Engelbrecht, S, Taylor, MB, Schneider, JW & Janse van Rensburg, E 2002,'HHV-8 Subtypes in South Africa: identification of a case suggesting a novel B variant,' Journal of Medical Virology, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 235-240. [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/32763]0146-66151096-907110.1002/jmv.2135http://hdl.handle.net/2263/4031Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been identified as the causative agent for all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma and is also associated with the development of body cavity-based B-cell lymphomas and multicentric Castleman's disease. HHV-8 genomes are now classified into five major subtypes (A-E) that reflect sequence heterogeneity in the highly variable open reading frame (ORF) K1. To identify HHV-8 subtypes associated with different forms of Kaposi's sarcoma, we compared the ORF 26 and ORF-K1 gene sequences from South African patients with the prototype strains of the major subtypes, as well as published sequences from other African strains. DNA prepared from Kaposi's sarcoma biopsies and/or peripheral blood lymphocytes were available from 14 patients with postrenal transplant (iatrogenic) Kaposi's sarcoma, six patients with the African endemic form, and one patient with AIDS-related body cavity-based B-cell lymphoma. We identified a B2 subtype in six patients, four of whom also had a novel B5 type ORF 26 polymorphism. Two patients had B2 type patterns for both the ORF 26 and ORF-K1 genes. The ORF-K1 subtype A5 was identified in samples from three patients with a B3/C2 type polymorphism in the ORF 26 gene. A novel ORF-K1 B variant strain was identified in a patient with African endemic Kaposi's sarcoma, who also had a B3/C2 class ORF 26 pattern. In 58.3% of iatrogenic Kaposi's sarcoma patients, a B5-type ORF 26 gene sequence pattern was identified. No association was found among particular subtypes, geographical origin of patients, or clinical presentation.181194 bytesapplication/pdfenWileyKaposi sarcomaORF-K1ORF 26Kaposi's sarcoma -- South AfricaLymphomas -- South AfricaPostprint Article