Detection of human herpesvirus 8 in the skin of patients with pityriasis rosea.

Pityriasis rosea is an acute self-limiting dermatosis with clinical and epidemiological features that suggest viral involvement. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between pityriasis rosea and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Lesional skin tissue was obtained from 34 Kaposi's sarcoma-negative, immunocompetent patients with typical acute phase pityriasis rosea. Nested polymerase chain reaction with specific primer for HHV-8 DNA sequences was performed and all positive results were confirmed by sequencing. Seven out of 34 lesional skin specimens (20.5%) were found to be positive for the HHV-8 genome. All the positive samples were confirmed by DNA sequencing. We conclude that, in some cases, HHV-8 is implicated the pathogenesis of pityriasis rosea.