title: Apolipoprotein 4 may increase viral load and seizure frequency in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients with positive human herpes virus 6B.
abstract: This study investigated whether apolipoprotein 4 (ApoE4) was associated with the presence of human herpes virus (HHV)-6B in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to determine ApoE polymorphism in 46 patients with MTLE and 19 controls. Nested PCR and real-time PCR were applied to determine HHV-6B DNA and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for HHV-6B protein. Viral DNA load was significantly increased in MTLE patients with HHV-6B(+)/ApoE4 compared with those with HHV-6B(+)/non-ApoE4 (p=0.031). Semi-quantitative analysis of IHC showed significantly increased number of positive cells for HHV-6B proteins G116/64/54, P98 and U94 in patients with HHV-6B(+)/ApoE4 than HHV-6B(+)/non-ApoE4 (p=0.009, 0.035 and 0.009, respectively). Patients with HHV-6B(+)/ApoE4 showed higher seizure frequency than those with HHV-6B(+)/non-ApoE4 (p=0.005). There was no significant difference of ApoE alleles between MTLE with and without HHV-6B (p=0.115). ApoE4 was not associated with initial infection of HHV-6B in MTLE. However, ApoE4 may facilitate HHV-6B reactivation, DNA replication, virus protein expression and increase seizure frequency in MTLE. Further investigations are needed to understand the biomolecular mechanism underlying interaction between ApoE and HHV-6B.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Wan
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Transplant, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Transplant, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: zhoudong66@yahoo.de.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: jinmeimery@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Jin-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D019562:Viral Load; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Apolipoprotein E; Epilepsy surgery; Gene polymorphism; Human herpes virus 6B; Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy