Prevalence of human herpesvirus 6 variant A and B infections in bone marrow transplant recipients as determined by polymerase chain reaction and sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe hybridization.
An oligotyping methodology was devised by using the polymerase chain reaction and sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe hybridization in order to discriminate the A and B variants of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). Comparative DNA sequence analysis of portions of the U1102 (variant A) and Z29 (variant B) genomes revealed polymorphic regions which allowed for the synthesis of variant-specific and consensus oligonucleotide probes. These probes were found to hybridize exclusively to their respective HHV-6 variants. This strategy was then further tested by evaluating 16 clinical isolates derived from patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation to determine the subtype prevalence of HHV-6 infection in these patients. All clinical isolates were documented to be of variant B, indicating that the majority of bone marrow transplantation patients may be preferentially infected with this HHV-6 subtype. This oligotyping strategy may be useful in defining the relative prevalence of HHV-6A and HHV-6B infections in patient populations potentially at risk for HHV-6 disease.
Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
W R
WR
Drobyski
M
M
Eberle
D
D
Majewski
L A
LA
Baxter-Lowe
D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes