Prevalence of human herpesvirus 6 variants A and B in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from 13 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and 13 healthy controls were analyzed for the presence of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) DNA by variant-specific polymerase chain reaction and dot blot hybridization. HHV-6 DNA was detected in 7 of 13 (53%) patients, and of those 7 patients, 4 were positive for HHV-6 variant A DNA and 3 were for variant B. No HHV-6 DNA was detected in the controls. Serum antibody titers to the late antigen and antibody prevalence to the early antigen of HHV-6 were significantly higher in the patient group. These results suggest active replication of HHV-6 in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Department of Virology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
S
S
Yalcin
H
H
Kuratsune
K
K
Yamaguchi
T
T
Kitani
K
K
Yamanishi
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014779:Virus Replication
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral