Infrequent detection of human herpesvirus 6 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from multiple sclerosis patients.
Several studies have suggested an association between human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection and multiple sclerosis. As HHV-6 is predominantly a T-cell tropic virus, we examined the frequency of detection of HHV-6 genome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from relapsing-remitting (n = 32) and chronic progressive (n = 14) patients and from healthy (n = 17) and neurological (n = 7) controls. Two sensitive polymerase chain reaction assays were used to target different regions within the HHV-6 genome. Depending on the polymerase chain reaction assay used, the detection of HHV-6 genome ranged from 11.7 to 23.5% (controls), 3.1 to 23.0% (relapsing-remitting), and 14.2 to 28.5% (chronic progressive). Although these observations do not exclude a pathogenic role for HHV-6 in multiple sclerosis, they indicate a lack of correlation between HHV-6 infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the development of multiple sclerosis.
Mayne
M
M
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Krishnan
J
J
Metz
L
L
Nath
A
A
Auty
A
A
Sahai
B M
BM
Power
C
C
D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004279:DNA, Viral