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Updated: May 21, 2026
Ex Vivo Infection of Human Lymphoid Tissue and Female Genital Mucosa with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 and Histoculture
Published on: October 12, 2018
The incidence of human herpes virus-8 expression in lymph node biopsies from human immunodeficiency virus-positive
Catherine A Beukes1, Jacoretha Thiart
1Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State and National Health Laboratory Service, Bloemfontein, South Africa. beukesca@ufs.ac.za
Aims:
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related lymphadenopathy is characterized by a wide spectrum of histological changes. Three patterns have been described which correspond to clinical stages of HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Castleman disease is a heterogeneous group of disorders. A recently described variant, multicentric Castleman disease (MCD), of which some cases are associated with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8), has been reported in both HIV-seropositive and -negative patients. Considerable morphological overlap occurs between one of the patterns of HIV lymphadenopathy and this variant.
Methods And Results:
This retrospective histopathological study on 95 cases of HIV-reactive lymphadenopathy assessed the incidence of the different patterns and HHV-8 on immunohistochemistry (IHC). Of the 95 cases, 78 (82.1%) were HHV-8-negative, of which 46 (59.0%) were classified as pattern A, 20 (25.6%) as pattern B and 12 (15.4%) as pattern C. Nine (31.0%) of 29 cases with pattern B and 8 (40.0%) of 20 cases with pattern C were HHV-8 positive. In total 15 cases of MCD were diagnosed in this series.
Conclusion:
This study draws attention to the overlap between HIV lymphadenopathy and MCD. We recommend that cases of HHV-8-associated MCD should be investigated for HIV infection.
