title: Detection of beta-herpesviruses in allogenic stem cell recipients by quantitative real-time PCR.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical impact of reactivation of human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 infections in stem cell transplantation recipients, and to examine a possible increase in virulence of the two roseoloviruses when a reactivation of CMV (HHV-5) simultaneously occurs. For this purpose, quantitative real-time PCR systems were developed to assess the viral load of CMV, HHV-6, or HHV-7 in the plasma of haematopoetic stem cell recipients. One hundred and ninety-eight plasma samples from 37 patients who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation were tested for CMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7 by a 5'-exonuclease (TaqMan) quantitative real-time PCR. The CMV load obtained by the real-time PCR assay was compared retrospectively with results generated previously with a commercially available test (COBAS AMPLICOR CMV MONITOR Test, Roche). The results suggest that CMV and HHV-6 may be associated with post-transplantation end-organ disease, while HHV-7 reactivation had no impact on the patients included in this study. No evidence for a potential interaction of the roseoloviruses and CMV infections was found.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Medizinisch-Theoretisches Zentrum, Fiedlerstrasse 42, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sassenscheidt
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rohayem
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Illmer
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bandt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000821:virology; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000821:virology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D019562:Viral Load; D014775:Virus Activation