Detection of human herpesvirus-7 DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage.
OBJECTIVE
Human herpesvirus-7 (HHV-7) is a highly seroprevalent virus that, following primary infection, establishes latency or persistence in some tissues, including lung. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HHV-7 in the lower respiratory tract of hospitalized adult patients.


METHODS
The prevalence of HHV-7 DNA was determined by quantitative real-time PCR in 212 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples obtained from 153 patients. The molecular epidemiology and clinical role of HHV-7 were evaluated.


RESULTS
HHV-7 DNA was positive in 44 of 212 specimens (20.7%), obtained from 40 of 153 patients (26.1%), in particular 22/68 (32.35%) and 18/86 (20.9%) in transplant and non-transplant patients, respectively (1 patient evaluated both before and after transplantation). No significant difference according to transplant condition or discharge diagnosis was found. Viral load was >100,000 genome equivalents/ml BAL in 6/22 (27.3%) transplant recipients and 4/18 (22.2%) non-transplant patients (p = n.s.).


CONCLUSIONS
The evaluation of HHV-7 DNA in BAL may be useful to investigate its potential role in lower respiratory tract infection, alone or in association with other viral and/or non-viral pathogens and to distinguish latency from reactivation.
Astegiano
Sara
S
Virology Unit, University Hospital San Giovanni Battista di Torino, Turin, Italy.
Costa
Cristina
C
Terlizzi
Maria Elena
ME
Sidoti
Francesca
F
Gambarino
Stefano
S
Mantovani
Samantha
S
Solidoro
Paolo
P
Cavallo
Rossana
R
Bergallo
Massimiliano
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult
D004279:DNA, Viral