Background: Xerostomia is a very relevant and frequent complication of radiotherapy, causing the irradiated oral mucosa to be affected by bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between oral shedding of human herpesviruses and xerostomia in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck submitted to radio/chemotherapy. Methods: In this study, oral rinse samples were collected weekly from 20 patients during radiotherapy. The samples were submitted to PCR and enzymatic digestion for detection of human herpesviruses. Xerostomia was evaluated according to the Seminars in Radiation Oncology criteria. Results: There was a higher frequency of grade 1 xerostomia (51.4%), observed first in the 1st week of radiotherapy. In the 4th week of radiotherapy, all patients presented some degree of xerostomia. Analysis of herpesviruses showed oral shedding of EBV, HHV-6 and HHV-7 in all weeks. Considering all the periods, the highest frequency was in patients with EBV excretion (55.0%), which was significantly higher than that of other viruses. Conclusion: We observed that oral shedding of herpesviruses was not affected by xerostomia as there was a progression in their excretion, even with the evolution of xerostomia. This suggested that there is a local replication in the oral cavity that is not completely dependent of salivary excretion.

Aim: Saliva can play an important role in human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) transmission in endemic regions for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Little is known about HHV-8 oral shedding in immunocompetent individuals from non-endemic regions for KS. Methods:We conducted a prospective study of HHV-8 salivary excretion among 59 healthy, immunocompetent individuals from São Paulo, Brazil, followed up weekly for 4 months, resulting in 16 saliva samples from each participant. Antibodies to HHV-8 latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) and lytic-phase antigens were investigated with immunofluorescence assays (IFA). HHV-8 DNA detection was performed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results: All 59 individuals were seronegative to LANA and lytic antibodies. HHV-8 DNA was undetectable in saliva samples in 100% of the participants, totaling 944 samples and being consistently negative during the different periods of sampling, which lasted approximately 120 days. No sequences of HHV-8 DNA were detected in the saliva samples of healthy, immunocompetent adults by using real-time PCR, with the resulting data being consistent with IFA-based serological tests. Conclusions:Unlike other herpesviruses, HHV-8 is not excreted in the saliva of healthy individuals from non-endemic regions for KS. K E Y W O R D Shuman herpesvirus-8, real-time polymerase chain reaction, saliva, serological test

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