Human herpesvirus 8, also known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is one of the few pathogens recognized as direct carcinogen, being involved in the pathogenesis of Kaposi sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman disease. KSHV is a relatively recently discovered virus, with still limited possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, ongoing studies are trying to answer the main issues related to the management of KSHV infection and its associated diseases. This review updates the current knowledge of the KSHV infection, discussing aspects related to epidemiology, virological features, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment.

Background Leptin is an adipokine with complex metabolic, neuroendocrine and immune functions. Our objective was to evaluate leptin serum levels in a cohort of Romanian HIV-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy in relation to their immune-virological status, lipid and glucose metabolic abnormalities and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods We enrolled consecutive non-diabetic HIV-infected patients aged 18 and over on stable cART for at least 6 months. Blood samples were tested for: leptin, CD4 T cells count, HIV viral load and lipid panel.

To investigate whether asymptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) viraemia impact the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, this study evaluated the effect of CMV replication on progression of newly-diagnosed HIV infected individuals towards AIDS events and death. In a 3-year prospective study on co-infected patients, clinical, immunological, and virological tests were performed in a national reference hospital quarterly. CMV viraemia was quantified by RoboGene® HCMV DNA Quantification Kit (Analytik Jena, Germany), on ABI Prism® 7000 Sequence Detection System (Applied Biosystems, USA). One hundred and five patients were enrolled with a balanced sex distribution and a median age of 30.7 years. Median CD4(+) cell count at enrollment was 164/mm(3) and median HIV RNA 4.6 log10 copies/ml. Detectable CMV viraemia was found in 25.7% of the patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed progression of HIV infection to be significantly increased in those with active CMV replication and/or low CD4(+) cell count. Cox regression indicated the risk of developing new AIDS events was 2.6 times greater in patients with detectable CMV viraemia versus those without (CI95% 1-6.6; P = 0.04). Also in multivariate analysis, the overall risk of progression to AIDS events or death was 3-fold higher in those with detectable CMV viraemia (CI95% 1.3-6.7; P = 0.008) and 2.3-fold higher if CD4(+) cell count was below 100/mm(3) (CI95% 1-5.1; P = 0.04). In these young Romanian HIV-seropositives, active CMV replication increased morbidity, even when treated with combination antiretroviral therapy. Further studies are needed to evaluate if serial quantitative CMV-DNA levels might correlate with non-infectious inflammation-related risks in patients with HIV and active CMV infection.