Human herpesvirus 6 is latent in peripheral blood of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
Studies of the association between HHV-6 and multiple sclerosis are hindered by the difficulty in discriminating between latent and active infection. A follow up study was undertaken of patients with multiple sclerosis, searching peripheral blood mononuclear cells for molecular markers associated with HHV-6 latency and lytic replication. The results show that HHV-6 is latent and did not support systemic infection in patients with multiple sclerosis. Likewise, patients with multiple sclerosis did not show any evidence of active infection with other human herpesviruses HHV-7 and HHV-8.
Rotola
A
A
Departments of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine, Section of Microbiology, University of Ferrara, Italy.
Cassai
E
E
Tola
M R
MR
Granieri
E
E
Di Luca
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004279:DNA, Viral