title: Herpesvirus type 6 in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation: serologic features and detection by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: To evaluate the potential role of human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) infection in patients after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) we sequentially analyzed buffy coat leukocytes, oral lavage fluid, and urine from 57 patients for the presence of HHV-6 DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) before and after 60 BMTs. Twenty-four patients undergoing autologous BMT and 36 with allogeneic BMT were studied. Thirty-six patients (60%) were PCR positive in one or more tests. The majority of PCR-positive patients had positive results only sporadically, in 1 (n = 23) or 2 weeks (n = 5). Six patients were positive in 3 to 5 weeks. In 2 patients, we found a high frequency of positive tests, in 7 of 7 and 10 of 10 weeks analyzed. Twenty-four patients (40%) remained PCR negative throughout the post-BMT period. There was a significant correlation between the results of HHV-6 PCR and the occurrence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). In grade II-IV, 6 of 8 (75%) patients had 2 or more positive PCR tests, compared with 5 of 25 (20%) patients without or with grade I aGVHD (P = .01). There was no difference in the outcome of PCR tests with respect to the type of BMT or pre-BMT HHV-6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titers. Restriction enzyme analysis of PCR amplificates from 18 patients showed HHV-6 variant B in 16 (88.9%) and variant A in 2 cases (11.1%). We conclude that HHV-6 DNA can be detected in 60% of the patients after BMT. HHV-6 DNA can be detected more frequently in patients with moderate and severe aGVHD than in patients without aGVHD or with mild aGVHD.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Innere Medizin, Klinikum Rudolf Virchow, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wilborn
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brinkmann
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neipel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gelderblom
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Siegert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000382:microbiology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral