Viral load of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in the circulatory blood cells correlates with clinical progression in a patient with HHV-8-associated solid lymphoma with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma

We encountered a case of a rapidly progressive HHV-8-associated solid lymphoma with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). HHV-8 DNA load in whole blood cells was analyzed quantitatively by real-time PCR using amplification of the HHV-8-encoded ORF26 gene. Ours is the first observation that the rapid increase in the HHV-8 viral load (from 1.9x10(4) copies/mug to 1.6x10(6) copies/mug in 40 days) in conjunction with low CD4+ cell counts was accompanied by an accelerated clinical disease progression. The results indicate that the quantity of circulating HHV-8 is measurable with real-time PCR and can provide clinically useful information.