Browsing by Author "Ruocco, Vincenzo"

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    Human Herpesvirus Type 8 Variants Circulating In Europe, Africa And North America In Classic, Endemic And Epidemic Kaposi's Sarcoma Lesions During Pre-AIDS and AIDS Era
    (Virology, 2010) Tornesello, Maria Lina; Biryahwaho, Benon; Downing, Robert; Hatzakis, Angelo; Alessi, Elvio; Cusini, Marco; Ruocco, Vincenzo; Mbidde, Edward Katongole; Loquercio, Giovanna; Buonaguro, Luigi; Buonaguro, Franco M.
    Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) variants have been found heterogeneously distributed among human populations living in diverse geographic regions, but their differential pathogenicity in Kaposi's sarcoma development remains controversial. In the present study, HHV-8 variant distribution has been analyzed in classic, iatrogenic, endemic as well as epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) during pre-AIDS and AIDS period (1971–2008) in countries with different KS incidence rate. DNA samples from cutaneous KS lesions of 68 patients living in Africa (n = 23, Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda), Europe (n = 34, Greece and Italy) and North America (n = 11) have been subjected to PCR amplification of HHV-8 ORF 26, T0.7, K1 and K14.1/15, followed by direct nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Among the 23 African samples, the majority of HHV-8 ORF 26 variants clustered with the subtype R (n = 12) and B (n = 5). Conversely, the viral sequences obtained from 45 European and North European tumors belonged mainly to subtype A/C (n = 36). In general, HHV-8 and K1 variant clustering paralleled that of ORF 26 and T0.7. Genotyping of the K14.1/15 loci revealed a large predominance of P subtype in all tumors. In conclusion, comparison of the HHV-8 sequences from classic or endemic versus AIDS-associated KS showed a strong linkage of the HHV-8 variants with specific populations, which has not changed during AIDS epidemic.
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    Human Herpesvirus Type 8 Variants In Kaposi’s Sarcoma Before And After AIDS Era
    (BioMed Central, 2010) Tornesello, Maria Lina; Biryahwaho, Benon; Downing, Robert; Hatzakis, Angelo; Alessi, Elvio; Cusini, Marco; Ruocco, Vincenzo; Loquercio, Giovanna; Mbidde, Edward Katongole; Buonaguro, Luigi; Buonaguro, Franco M.
    Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV- 8) variants have been found heterogeneously distributed among human populations living in diverse geographic regions, but their differential pathogenicity in Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) development remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to analyze variations of HHV-8 genomes in tumor biopsies collected before and in the course of HIV epidemic (1971 - 2008), from patients with classic, iatrogenic, endemic as well as epidemic KS living in Africa, Europe, and North America.