title: In vitro susceptibility of Macaca nemestrina to human herpesvirus 6: a potential animal model of coinfection with primate immunodeficiency viruses.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), a lymphotropic herpesvirus, has been suggested as a potential cofactor in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Previous studies indicate that HHV-6 has a restricted range of susceptible species. In this study, we tested the in vitro susceptibility to HHV-6 of Macaca nemestrina (pig-tailed macaque), a species that has been found to be infectable by human immunodeficiency virus type I in vivo and that develops an AIDS-like syndrome following simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. Two different HHV-6 isolates (HHV-6GS and HHV-6BA), belonging to the two major HHV-6 variants (A and B, respectively), were employed. Both viruses induced a productive and cytopathic infection in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood T lymphocytes from M. nemestrina. In contrast, only HHV-6BA (variant B) was able to replicate in lymphocytes from Macaca mulatta (rhesus macaque). Moreover, HHV-6GS and SIVsmE660 productively coinfected individual M. nemestrina lymphocytes, resulting in increased levels of SIV replication. Genetic sequences of HHV-6 were not amplified by polymerase chain reaction from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of several adult M. nemestrina, suggesting that these animals, unlike humans, are not commonly infected by HHV-6, or a related virus. Thus, M. nemestrina may represent an optimal animal model system to investigate the in vivo interactions between HHV-6 and the primate immunodeficiency viruses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lusso
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Secchiero
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Crowley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017931:DNA Primers; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008254:Macaca nemestrina; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009000:Monocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers