title: Analysis of shedding of 3 beta-herpesviruses in saliva from patients with connective tissue diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whether an association exists between infection with beta -herpesviruses and connective tissue diseases remains unclear, as are the mechanisms for the regulation of these infections in the salivary glands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Human herpesvirus (HHV)-7 was isolated and viral DNA was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in serially collected saliva samples, to determine whether viral load correlated with infectivity. Then, to examine the role played by beta -herpesviruses in connective tissue diseases, cytomegalovirus, HHV-6, and HHV-7 DNA loads were examined by real-time PCR in serially collected saliva samples from 21 patients with connective tissue diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although subjects with frequent HHV-7 shedding were more likely to have a high viral load than were other subjects, high viral loads were detected in saliva samples from a portion of the subjects with low viral shedding rates. No significant difference between the quantity of HHV-7 DNA in saliva samples from which active virus was isolated and that amplified from samples without detectable virus was observed. Patients with adult-onset Still disease consistently had high HHV-7 DNA loads, in contrast to patients with other connective tissue diseases (P=.0003) and healthy adults (P=.0224). The mean HHV-6 (P=.012) and HHV-7 (P<.0001) DNA loads in patients with connective tissue diseases were lower than those in healthy adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that a number of host factors in patients with adult-onset Still disease may function to accelerate HHV-7 replication in the salivary glands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan. tetsushi@fujita-hu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tetsushi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ihira
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Yoshizo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral