Hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) was found in 9.2% of 1,186 pregnant women from Gabon, of whom 10.1% had the HBe antigen and 89.9% had anti-HBe antibodies. Antibodies to the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) were found in 15.6% of the HBsAg-positive women. The HBV strains were of the A3 and E genotypes. The HDV strains belonged to HDV clades 1 and 8. These results provide clear evidence that HDV clade 8 is indigenous to Africa.Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) are highly endemic in Africa. The prevalence of serological markers indicating exposure to HBV in sub-Saharan Africa is very high, up to 90% (3), although the prevalence of HBV carriers varies substantially between regions, from less than 7% to 35% (13).The molecular characterization of HBV has revealed eight genomic groups, designated genotypes A to H (6, 12). Two major HBV genotypes, genotypes A and E, are predominant in central, south, and west Africa (13). Genotype A has been divided into two subgenotypes, subgenotypes A1 and A2 (8,20); recently, a new subgenotype, subgenotype A3, was described and characterized in Cameroon and Gabon (9, 11).

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The combination of the anti-viral agents, zidovudine (AZT) and interferon-␣ (IFN), is a potent treatment of HTLV-I-associated adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). In this study we investigate the possible mechanism of action of this combination by examining several cellular parameters including cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis. The ATL-derived T cell lines HuT-102 and MT-2 served as models. HTLV-I negative T cell lines (CEM and Jurkat) were used as controls. No significant modification of cell growth was observed except at suprapharmacological doses of AZT and IFN. Moreover, these effects were less pronounced in HTLV-I-infected cell lines compared to control cell lines. AZT and IFN treatment did not induce any significant modification of the expression of bcl-2 and p53. Interestingly no in vitro cytotoxic effect of AZT/IFN combination was observed on fresh leukemic cells derived from an acute ATL patient at diagnosis despite achievement of in vivo complete remission using the same therapy. These results suggest that the therapeutic effect of AZT and IFN is not through a direct cytotoxic effect of these drugs on the leukemic cells. Leukemia (2000) 14, 716-721.

Although some tumor KS lesions were monoclonal expansions of HHV-8-infected spindle cells, most advanced lesions were oligoclonal proliferations. Furthermore, individual KS disseminated tumor skin lesions were found to represent distinct expansions of HHV-8-infected spindle cells. Thus, our results suggest that KS lesions, especially in patients with advanced skin tumors, are reactive proliferations rather than true malignancies with metastatic dissemination.