Detection of Chlamydophila pneumoniae and human herpesvirus 8 in primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma: a case report

Abstract

BackgroundThe etiology of primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell CD30+ lymphoma is largely unknown, and although an infectious involvement has been suspected, the implication of infectious agents in its pathogenesis is still unclear.FindingsWe report the case of a HIV-negative patient referred to our hospital with a rapidly enlarging skin tumor on her upper eyelid. Surgical excision was performed and histological analysis evidenced a primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Due to the ocular localization and to the prominent angiogenic component of the lesion, molecular analyses for the detection of Chlamydophila pneumoniae and HHV8 were performed, revealing the presence of an infection by both pathogens in surgical biopsy and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.ConclusionsThese findings suggest for the first time a possible association of C. pneumoniae and/or HHV8 infection, or both together, with primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in non-immunocompromised and HIV-negative subjects. This potential pathogenic association, if confirmed, could provide potential indications for future therapy.

High prevalence of specific KIR types in patients with HHV-8 positive cutaneous vascular lesions: a possible predisposing factor?

“…Moreover, HHV8 infection causes a reprogramming of cell transcription, inducing the expression of cellular factors with proangiogenic activity, including VEGF, MCP-1, ATF4, mTOR, and ANGPTL4 [4,5,12,16,21,22]. In line with this, previous observations by our group evidenced a relevant presence of HHV8 in cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions, especially in eruptive cherry angiomas (CAs), and suggested that immunosuppression could be a substratum for HHV8 to explicate its neoangiogenic potential at skin level [1,2].…”

“…The presence of HHV8 DNA in clinical biopsies was analyzed by three different molecular assays, as previously described [1,2,5,6]. Briefly, DNA was isolated from clinical samples and 100 ng of total DNA were analyzed by two qualitative PCRs (specific for ORF26 and ORF50 genes), and by a real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) (designed in the ORF26 gene, but amplifying a different region from that amplified in the qualitative PCR).…”

Investigation on silent bacterial infections in specimens from pregnant women affected by spontaneous miscarriage

“…Specifically, genomic DNA sequences belonging to Ureaplasma spp and Mycoplasma spp were investigated using hemi-nested PCR (hn-PCR) and PCR, respectively (Cultrera, Seraceni, Germani, & Contini, 2006). The genomic DNA sequence of C. trachomatis was investigated by nested-PCR (Borghi et al, 2013). In PCR techniques, the following primers sets were used: (a) UU3/UU4 and UU5, targeting the urease gene of the most common human Ureaplasmas (Cultrera et al, 2006)…”

“…; (b) MGSO/ RNA5 and MGSO/GPO1 primer sets, targeting the 16S gene region of the most common human Mycoplasmas (a true positivity was considered if obtained with both pairs of primers; Cultrera et al, 2006); (c) and 16S generis, 16s-chtracho primer sets, targeting the 16S gene region of C. trachomatis(Borghi et al, 2013).…”

Relapses of primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in a female immunocompetent patient with persistent chlamydophila pneumoniae and human herpesvirus 8 infection

“…However, the actual implication of infectious agents in the pathogenesis of such disorders remains controversial [ 1 – 5 ]. In a previous report [ 6 ], we reported the case of an immunocompetent female patient with a primary cutaneous CD30+ anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (PCALCL) of her upper right eyelid, characterized by the presence of a concurrent active infection by C. pneumoniae and Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). This finding suggested that these microorganisms could be involved in the development of the PCALCL by reciprocally potentiating their pathogenic potential.…”