Kaposi ’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus seropositivity is associated with parasite infections in Ugandan fishing communities on Lake Victoria islands

by Angela Nalwoga, Emily L. Webb, Belinda Chihota, Wendell Miley, Bridgious Walusimbi, Jacent Nassuuna, Richard E. Sanya, Gyaviira Nkurunungi, Nazzarena Labo, Alison M. Elliott, Stephen Cose, Denise Whitby, Robert Newton We investigated the impact of helminths and malaria infection on Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) seropositivity, using samples and data collected from a cluster-randomised trial of intensive versus standard anthelminthic treatment. The trial was carried out in 2012 to 2016 among f ishing communities on Lake Victoria islands in Uganda. Plasma samples from 2881 participants from two household surveys, the baseline (1310 participants) and the final (1571 participants) surveys were tested for KSHV IgG antibody responses to K8.1 and ORF73 recombinant proteins using ELISA. The base line survey was carried out before the trial intervention while the final survey was carried out after three years of the trial intervention. Additionally, a subset sample of 372 participants from the final survey was tested for IgE, IgG and IgG4 antibody concentrations toS.mansoni adults worm antigen (SWA) andS.mansoni egg antigen (SEA) using ELISA. Infection by helminths (S.mansoni,N.americanus,T.trichiura andS.stercoralis) was diagnosed using real-time PCR, urine circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) and stool microscopy (Kato-Katz method) while malaria infection was diagnosed using microscopy. We analysed the relationship between helminth and malaria infections and KSH...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research