[Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). II. Pathogenic role and sensitivity to antiviral drugs]

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) has been found to be associated with three different diseases observed in Aids patients: Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, which is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphomas affecting the body cavities, and multicentric Castleman's disease. The role of this new herpesvirus and other lymphoid proliferations, like angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy or multiple myeloma, is much debatable. To date, there are several evidences for a direct role of this virus in the occurrence of the Kaposi's sarcoma, although the hypothesis of a passenger virus hypothesis cannot be totally excluded. In vitro, HHV8 is sensitive to some anti-herpesvirus drugs like foscarnet, cidofovir and adefovir, but the indications of these therapies in the prevention or the treatment of the Kaposi's sarcoma have not been documented so far.