title: Human herpesvirus 6 infection in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection occurs worldwide and can be reactivated from latency during periods of immunosuppression, especially after organ transplantation. No previous study has evaluated the influence of dialysis type on HHV-6 infection. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of HHV-6 antibodies in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 36 PD patients, 35 HD patients, and 20 healthy subjects, all with no history of organ transplantation. After systematic inquiries and a physical examination, blood was drawn for determination of biochemical parameters, cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), hepatitis B surface antigen, and the hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus antibodies. Titers of HHV-6 IgM and IgG antibodies were determined by ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Titers for HHV-6 IgM antibody were positive in 9 HD patients (25.7%), 8 PD patients (22.2%), and 2 control subjects (10.0%, p > 0.05). More HD patients (20.0%) than PD patients (5.6%, p = 0.07) or control subjects (0.0%, p = 0.03) were positive for HHV-6 IgG antibody. In HD patients, HHV-6 IgG seropositivity and duration of dialysis were positively correlated (R = 0.33, p = 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infection with HHV-6 is not rare in PD and HD patients. In addition, HHV-6 IgG seropositivity was significantly higher in HD patients than in control subjects and approached significance when compared with seropositivity in PD patients. Moreover, in HD patients, HHV-6 IgG seropositivity correlated with duration on HD. These preliminary findings provide insight into the pre-transplantation period for patients and may aid our understanding of how to best protect patients against HHV-6 after transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altay
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akay
authors.forename: Selman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ünverdi
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Altay
authors.forename: Mevlüt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ceri
authors.forename: F Aybala
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Altay
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cesur
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duranay
authors.forename: Ali Pekcan
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Demiroz
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral