Absence of antibodies to human herpesvirus-6 in patients with slowly-progressive human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.
To evaluate a possible role for Human Herpesvirus-type 6 (HHV-6) coinfection as a co-factor in the progression of HIV-1 disease, we investigated the prevalence of seropositivity for HHV-6 in a cohort of HIV-1 infected patients. These patients were retrospectively divided into two groups according to the decline of CD4+ T cells during the follow up: 11 were classified as rapid decliners (less than 400 CD4+/cmm within 1 year), and 38 as slow decliners (greater than 400 CD4+/cmm after at least 4 years' follow up). HHV-6 antibodies were detected by a commercial immunofluorescence assay and by a Western blotting assay developed in our laboratory. Our results show that Western blot appears to provide results satisfactorily free of false positivities. We found that the frequency of HHV-6 seropositivity was significantly lower in the group of slow decliners, compared both to rapid decliners and to the general population. These data suggest a role for HHV-6 co-infection in the progression of HIV-1 disease.
Chen
H
H
Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China.
Pesce
A M
AM
Carbonari
M
M
Ensoli
F
F
Cherchi
M
M
Campitelli
G
G
Sbarigia
D
D
Luzi
G
G
Aiuti
F
F
Fiorilli
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000914:Antibodies, Viral