Salivary Shedding, Viremia, and Seroprevalence of Kaposi´s Sarcoma-Associated Herpes Virus (KSHV/ HHV-8) Among a Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women From Argentina Who Are Infected or at a High Risk of HIV/AIDS

FINK V; PEREZ C; LACUNZA E; GUN A; ABBA, MARTÍN; TOUS M; SUED O; COSO O; CAHN P; MESRI E

Conferencia; 17th International Conference on Malignancies in HIV/AIDS; 2019

Background: Kaposi´s sarcoma remains as one of the most frequent viral cancers among HIV-infected individuals inLatin America including Argentina. However data on Kaposi?s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV/ HHV-8) isscarce in this setting. Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) are the populations mostlyaffected by HIV/ AIDS in Argentina. As part of a project studying virally induced AIDS-malignancies, we aim to studyKSHV infection and associated factors within a cohort of people with or at high risk of HIV/AIDS in Argentina.Baseline data is presented.Methods: MSM and TGW were recruited at Fundación Huésped between April 2018 and May 2019. All patientssigned informed consent prior to study procedures. Samples derived from blood and saliva were collected and storedat -70°C, medical information was recorded. DNA from whole blood and saliva samples were extracted usingQIAamp DNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN) and PCR reactions were performed. KSHV serology was done by indirectimmunofluorescence assay.Results: Patients recruited: 56 MSM (49 HIV+) and 10 TGW (6 HIV+). Median age was 36 years for MSM and 28 forTGW. Countries of birth for the participants were Argentina (n=54), Peru (n=4), Venezuela and Colombia (n=3; each)and Paraguay (n=2). All TGW and 7 MSM were current or past sexual workers. No patient ever received bloodtransfusions, two MSM used intravenous drugs in the past, 35 participants used non-intravenous drugs, 16 usedstimulants and 37 ever used tobacco. Among HIV+ participants, median CD4 cell count was 714 cells/ul (interquartilerange: 458- 966). One patient had previous Kaposi´s sarcoma and no patient had active clinical disease. Serologicalanalysis showed that 76% of the population was infected with KSHV (90% of the TGW and 69% of the MSM). KSHVwas detected in 34% of the saliva samples (6/10 TGW and 16/55 MSM; 18/22 HIV+) and in 21% of whole bloodsamples (4/10 TGW and 8/56 MSM; 10/55 HIV+). In seven patients KSHV was detected in both blood and saliva.Use of non-intravenous drugs and alcohol consumption were associated with positive serology (p=0.020 and 0.018,respectively).Conclusion: Prevalence of KSHV infection was high among the studied population. Seroprevalence was 76%. Viralmucosal shedding was higher than viremia. TGW have a very high frequency of KSHV-infection (90%), and atendency to higher salivary shedding and viremia than MSM. This study is expected to inform public health policiesand to help building KS prevention strategies.