Quantification of human herpesvirus 6 in immunocompetent persons and post-mortem tissues from AIDS patients by PCR.
A quantitative competitive PCR assay for human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) was developed. Firstly, viral burden was determined in the blood of 25 healthy persons. Using 1 microgram of DNA, the prevalence of HHV-6 was 36% (9/25). Eight persons had viral loads of < or = 32 HHV-6 genomes/microgram DNA. The viral burden in the ninth individual was 1.2 x 10(6) HHV-6 genome copies/microgram DNA, which remained constant over a period of 10 months. This demonstrates the persistence of a high HHV-6 load in the absence of apparent disease. Secondly, HHV-6 burden was determined in 100 post-mortem tissues from seven AIDS patients and three controls. For all tissues combined, there was a statistically significant higher median viral load in AIDS patients (56 copies/microgram DNA, range 0-43321) compared to controls (10 copies/microgram DNA, range 0-423) (P = 0.04). The precision and reproducibility of this assay will allow hypotheses concerning the pathogenic potential of HHV-6 to be tested quantitatively.
Clark
D A
DA
Department of Virology, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, UK.
Ait-Khaled
M
M
Wheeler
A C
AC
Kidd
I M
IM
McLaughlin
J E
JE
Johnson
M A
MA
Griffiths
P D
PD
Emery
V C
VC
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019562:Viral Load
D004279:DNA, Viral