In this study a possible relationship between the presence of type 2 diabetes (DM2) and the Human Herpesvirus 8 infection (HHV-8) has been evaluated. The presence of HHV-8 DNA was monitored by nested PCR and Southern blotting in peripheral blood leucocytes of DM2 patients admitted to the Diabetology and Metabolic Disease Service of the “S. Giovanni di Dio” Hospital (Cagliari, Italy); healthy blood donor subjects were examined as controls. The results suggest that the frequency of HHV-8 DNA detection is more elevated in DM2 patients (23.7%) than in healthy control subjects (12%, p<0.05). The association of HHV-8 infection with some other frequent complicating pathologies of DM2 patients was also evaluated. The possible role of HHV-8 in DM2 disease and related intercurrent pathologies is critically discussed

Problem statement: The possible contribution of viruses to vascular pathology is still a\ud controversial issue. Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) has been suggested to participate to the\ud pathogenetic events associated with atherosclerotic lesion establishment and progression. Recently, a\ud high incidence of infection of HHV-8 (11%) has been verified in the island of Sardinia. The aim of this\ud study was to evaluate a possible relationship between the HHV-8 infection and cardiovascular diseases in\ud the South of Sardinia. Approach: The presence of HHV-8 genome was detected in DNA extracted from\ud peripheral leucocytes, by nested-PCR and Southern blotting, in either acute or chronic cardiopathic\ud patients (n = 180); healthy blood donors were examined as controls (n = 108). Results: The results\ud demonstrated a significant increase (p = 0.035) in HHV-8 DNA isolation from cardiopathic patients\ud (22.8%) in comparison to healthy controls (12.0%). Conclusion: HHV8 infection can be considered,\ud among others, as an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease development, although it was not\ud necessarily the starting cause. More extensive studies were needed to define the exact role of HHV-8\ud infection in cardiopathic patients