title: Antibodies to human herpes virus-6 and clinical course in patients with Hodgkin's disease.
abstract: Serial serum samples from 37 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 39 healthy controls were studied for antibodies to human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) using ELISA and indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) tests and to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) using a radio-complement fixation assay. Antibodies to HHV-6 in the pre-treatment sera from the HD patients were not significantly different from those of controls, but significant changes in titers related to clinical course were noted among the HD patients. HHV-6 IFA titers increased significantly in the course of follow-up in patients who relapsed and decreased significantly over time in patients who did not. These serologic studies support tissue-based investigations indicating that EBV plays a greater etiologic role in HD than HHV-6, although HHV-6 serology may be of prognostic value or may assist in identifying individuals with immunologic abnormalities. The identification of diverse HHV-6 antibody patterns using different assays may reflect the presence of a number of antibodies with varying implications, similar to those identified for EBV.
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ebbesen
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Ablashi
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Saxinger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nordentoft
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Connelly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral