- 79: J Med Virol. 2003 Feb;69(2):182-7
Effect of multiple herpesvirus infections on the progression of
HIV disease in a cohort of HIV seroconverters.
Suligoi B, Dorrucci M, Uccella I, Andreoni M, Rezza G; Italian
Seroconversion Study.
Reparto AIDS e MST, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
suligoi@iss.it
Abstract
The effects of herpesviruses infection on the progression of HIV
disease remain controversial, with some studies showing
accelerated progression and others showing no effect.
Furthermore, the effect of concurrent infection with more than
one herpesvirus on the progression of HIV disease has never been
investigated. To this end, the rates of progression of HIV
disease were determined after stratifying for the presence of up
to five different herpesvirus infections. The study population
consisted of 359 HIV-infected persons for whom the date of
seroconversion was estimated (part of the Italian Seroconversion
Study). One serum sample from each participant was tested for
antibodies to five herpesviruses: HSV-2, CMV, HHV-6, HHV-7, and
HHV-8. Univariate analysis showed that HSV-2 and HHV-8 were
significantly associated with progression to AIDS, yet when
adjusting for age at HIV seroconversion and for the presence of
the other herpesvirus infections, only HHV-8 infection showed a
significant association. The age-adjusted risk of progression to
AIDS with Kaposi's sarcoma increased with the number of
herpesvirus infections and was significant in individuals with
four infections. The risk of progression to AIDS without
Kaposi's sarcoma also increased with the number of infections,
although not significantly. Similar results were found when
considering CD4+ cell count <200 x 10(6) cells/L as the endpoint.
Concurrent infection with more than one herpesvirus does not
appear to have a significant effect on the course of HIV disease,
except for the known association between HHV-8 and Kaposi's
sarcoma. However, even after excluding Kaposi's sarcoma from the
AIDS-defining endpoints, a slightly increased risk for
participants with four herpesvirus infections remained.