title: Prevalence of IgM antibodies to human herpesvirus 6 early antigen (p41/38) in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
abstract: To evaluate the association between human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), 2 geographically separate groups of CFS patients (125 and 29 patients, respectively) and healthy controls (150 and 15 controls, respectively) were compared, using an EIA, for antibodies to HHV-6 early antigen p41/38 (EA). Sixty percent (93/154) of CFS patients were were positive for HHV-6 EA IgM, 40% (61/154) were positive for IgG, and 23% (35/154) were positive for both. A total of 119 (77%) of the CFS patients were positive for HHV-6 EA IgG or IgM (or both); only 12% (20/165) of the controls had IgG or IgM to HHV-6 EA. These data demonstrate that more CFS patients than controls had elevated levels of HHV-6 EA-specific IgM, perhaps indicating active replication of HHV-6 in CFS.
authors.affiliation: Specialty Laboratories, Inc., Santa Monica, California 90404-3900, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patnaik
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Komaroff
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conley
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ojo-Amaize
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Peter
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D014764:Viral Proteins; C081690:p41 protein, Human herpesvirus 6