Tornesello, Maria LinaBiryahwaho, BenonDowning, RobertHatzakis, AngeloAlessi, ElvioCusini, MarcoRuocco, VincenzoMbidde, Edward KatongoleLoquercio, GiovannaBuonaguro, LuigiBuonaguro, Franco M.2022-01-242022-01-242010Tornesello, M. L., Biryahwaho, B., Downing, R., Hatzakis, A., Alessi, E., Cusini, M., ... & Buonaguro, F. M. (2010). 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, 398(2), 280-289.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2009.12.0050042-6822https://nru.uncst.go.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/1529Human 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.enKaposi's sarcoma; Human herpes virus type 8; (HHV-8)HHV-8 ORF 26; HHV-8 ORF K1Article