Abstract: Objective To profile the genotype of human herpesvirus 8 （HHV-8） in patients with Kaposi′s sarcoma from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Methods Genomic DNA was extracted from 11 frozen tissue samples of Kaposi′s sarcoma. The HHV-8 K1 gene was amplified by nested-PCR and sequenced. Phylogenetic tree was drawn by Mega 3.0 software. Results Of the 11 tissue samples, 3 were positive for A subtype of HHV-8 gene, 8 for C subtype. A5 and C7 subtypes were first isolated and identified in China. HHV-8 genotypes in these samples tended to cluster and share common origin. AIDS-Kaposi′s sarcoma-associated HHV-8 could share common genotypes with that associated with classic Kaposi′s sarcoma. Conclusions A and C predominate in the genotypes of HHV-8 in patients with Kaposi′s sarcoma in Xingjiang, which have a high homology with those strains from Africa and Europe. A5 and C7 genotypes of HHV-8 have been first isolated in China.

Key words: Human herpesvirus 8