Human herpesvirus type 8 in patients with cirrhosis: correlation with sex, alcoholism, hepatitis B virus, disease severity, and thrombocytopenia.

Immunologic abnormalities in patients with cirrhosis strongly correlate with severity of liver cirrhosis. The association between cirrhosis and human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) infection is unclear. Plasma samples were obtained from 74 healthy control subjects and 59 patients with cirrhosis. The seropositive rates for HHV-8 antibodies in patients with cirrhosis (25/59 [42%]) were significantly higher than that in healthy control subjects (18/74 [24%]; P = .027), particularly in men (P = .027), patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis (P = .032), and patients with thrombocytopenia (P = .019) or Child-Pugh class C cirrhosis (P = .018) or both (P = .015), or hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (P = .003). Antibody titers in seropositive patients also significantly exceeded those in healthy control subjects (P = .008). All subjects were negative for anti-HIV. In Taiwan, cirrhosis is associated with HHV-8 infection, particularly in men, patients with Child-Pugh class C cirrhosis and/or thrombocytopenia, and patients with alcohol- or HBV-related cirrhosis.