Association between human herpesvirus 8 and lipid profile in northwest China: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV‐8) infection shows obvious regional and ethnic differences. Although studies have shown that these differences may be associated with lipid metabolism, to date, no large‐scale studies have explored this. This study explored the seropositivity rate of HHV‐8 among 2516 residents from 10 regions of northwest China and then the correlates of HHV‐8 infection with lipid profile. The HHV‐8 serological positivity rate was 15.6% among all residents. The HHV‐8 seroprevalence ranged 11.2–27.6% among different ethnicities. Across different BMI levels, the positive rates of HHV‐8 were 27.6%, 16.9%, and 13.6% for a BMI < 18.5, 18.5–24.9, and ≥25, respectively. HHV‐8 seropositivity rate was lower for hypertensive people (12.6%) than for non‐hypertensive people (16.7%). Univariate logistic regression analyses revealed that age, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, BMI, total cholesterol, and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) significantly correlated with HHV‐8 seropositivity (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for confounding factors showed that HDL‐C (odds ratio [OR]: 0.132, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.082–0.212; p < 0.001) and BMI (OR: 0.959, 95% CI 0.933–0.986; p = 0.003) were associated with HHV‐8 seropositivity. Subgroup analyses concerning ethnicity, sex, or age demonstrated a consistent relationship with HDL‐C. The results of HHV‐8 seropositivity and BMI were inconsistent in the subgroups. However, Spearman's correlation analysis between HHV‐8 serum antibody titer and HDL‐C levels showed no linear relationship among HHV‐8 seropositive individuals (ρ = −0.080, p = 0.058). HHV‐8 serum antibody titers were also not significantly correlated with BMI (ρ = −0.015, p = 0.381). Low HDL‐C levels may be an independent risk factor for HHV‐8 infection, but there is no significant correlation between HDL‐C levels and HHV‐8 antibody titers.