title: The prevalence of human herpesvirus 6 in human sensory ganglia and its co-occurrence with alpha-herpesviruses.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) persists in the central nervous system, but its prevalence in the peripheral nervous system, a preferred latency site for herpesviruses, has not been studied. Using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the authors determined the distribution of HHV-6 in human sensory ganglia. HHV-6 was present in 30% of trigeminal, 40% of geniculate, 25% of vestibular, and 55% of dorsal root ganglia. It co-occurred with alpha-herpesviruses (herpes simplex virus type 1 or varicella-zoster virus) in 91% of the ganglia. As HHV-6 positivity did not depend on the presence of inflammatory cells, known to harbor the virus, HHV-6 probably resides in the ganglia themselves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Marchioninistrasse 23, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hüfner
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arbusow
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Himmelein
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Derfuss
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sinicina
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strupp
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Diethilde
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Theil
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D017950:Ganglia, Sensory / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*