title: Measurement of human herpesvirus 7 load in peripheral blood and saliva of healthy subjects by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Qualitative and competitive-quantitative nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were developed for human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7). These assays amplify a DNA sequence encoding part of the HHV-7 homologue of the human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) U42 gene. The PCR assays were used to analyze peripheral blood DNA (pbDNA) and saliva from 24 healthy volunteers. The prevalence of HHV-7 in saliva was 96%, with a median virus load of 1.1 x 10(6) copies/mL. Longitudinal analysis revealed sustained virus load, suggesting continued active viral replication. Analysis of 1 microgram of pbDNA showed the prevalence of HHV-7 to be 83%, with a median virus load of 40 copies (267 copies/10(6) cells). Analysis of sequential pbDNA samples showed individuals to have stable levels of HHV-7 virus load. These data demonstrate persistence of HHV-7 at two distinct sites and provide baseline data allowing comparisons with HHV-7 load in immunocompromised patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ait-Khaled
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Emery
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D014764:Viral Proteins