Human herpesvirus 6 latently infects mononuclear cells but not liver tissue.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) can cause latent infection of liver tissue.


METHODS
Peripheral blood and liver tissue were collected from 25 living related liver transplant recipients at the time of transplantation. An avidin-biotin complex peroxidase method was used to identify HHV-6 antigen in the liver tissue. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect HHV-6 DNA in the liver tissue and mononuclear cells. Variant of HHV-6 was determined by the presence of the Hind III site in a second PCR product.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical analysis for HHV-6 antigen was negative in all the liver specimens. HHV-6 DNA was not detected in liver tissue. Virus DNA was detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in nine of 25 recipients. All nine HHV-6 identified in the mononuclear cells were variant B.


CONCLUSIONS
HHV-6 variant B latently infects mononuclear cells but not liver tissue.
Yoshikawa
T
T
Department of Paediatrics, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan. tetsushi@fujita-hu.ac.jp
Suzuki
K
K
Ihira
M
M
Furukawa
H
H
Suga
S
S
Iwasaki
T
T
Kurata
T
T
Asonuma
K
K
Tanaka
K
K
Asano
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D017735:Virus Latency
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral