High prevalence of HHV8 infection and specific killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors allotypes in Sardinian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Issue 10 (30th September 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caselli, Elisabetta; Rizzo, Roberta; Ingianni, Angela; Contini, Pierpaolo; Pompei, Raffaello; Di Luca, Dario
• Is Part Of: Journal of medical virology. Volume 86:Issue 10(2014:Oct.)
• Page Start: 1745
• Page End: 1751
• Publication Date: 2013-09-30
• Subjects: Virology -- Periodicals; 616
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.23771
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0146-6615

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jmv23771-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <p>The development of type 2 diabetes is thought to involve both environmental, possibly infectious, and genetic factors. Recently, a high prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) infection was observed in type 2 diabetes patients, and specific killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIR) allotypes were associated to both increased susceptibility to herpesvirus infection and risk to develop diabetes. However, no clear gene‐disease or virus‐disease associations have been established. To investigate the possible interplay between HHV8 infection, KIR allotype and type 2 diabetes, virus prevalence and KIR genotype were analyzed by PCR in 168 patients affected by type 2 diabetes and 108 control individuals belonging to the Sardinian population. Results showed a significant increase of HHV8 prevalence in type 2 diabetes patients versus controls (57% vs. 17%, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001), and a significant increase of <italic>KIR2DL2/DS2</italic> homozygosity in diabetes patients infected with HHV8 compared to uninfected ones (64% vs. 14%, <italic>P</italic> < 0.0001), resulting in a significant OR of 11.31. In addition, the analysis of the frequency of the <italic>KIR2DL2/DS2</italic> receptor and its <italic>HLA‐C1</italic> ligand, accordingly to the status of HHV8 infection, showed a significant increased correlation between <italic>KIR2DL2/DS2</italic>, type 2 diabetes and <italic>HLA‐C1C1</italic> genotype in the type 2 diabetes patients infected with HHV8 compared to uninfected ones (62% vs. 15%, <italic>P</italic> < 0.0001, OR = 8.64). These findings provide preliminary evidence that HHV8 infection might be a cofactor for type 2 diabetes in a specific subset of genetically susceptible individuals, and suggest the possibility that such patients might have an impaired immune‐mediated component contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes. <bold><italic>J. Med. Virol. 86: 1745–1751, 2014</italic>.</bold> © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>