Active Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Despite the low viral load and the lack of clinical correlation, and given the biological characteristics of the virus, our results suggest that there was active HHV-6A infection in 14.6% of patients with MS. Further quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction studies will help us understand the clinical significance of such a low viral load.

Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection as a Trigger of Multiple Sclerosis

“…Seven additional studies were classified as B quality without achieving statistical significance. 40,42,44,47,48,50, 51 Hollsberg et al 40 presented only rates without absolute numbers of HHV-6 antibody-positive MS patients and controls, whereas Ma rtin et al 51 did not present any HHV-6 antibody-positive MS patients. The final 2 studies had severe methodological problems and were classified as C quality.…”

“…Another 2 studies were classified as A quality without reaching statistical significance. 39,58 Of the studies classified as B quality, 1 study reached statistical significance, 44 whereas 8 studies did not. 23,47,[59][60][61][62]67,68 In most B-quality studies, a greater proportion of MS patients had detectable HHV-6 DNA in their PBMCs than controls; however, the results were not statistically signifi-For personal use.…”

Mini review article. Human herpesvirus-6 and the etiology of multiple sclerosis: a literature review

“…However, these reports suggest that HHV-6 reactivation may be sufficiently suppressed in healthy control subjects and in patients with OND, but that a subgroup of patients with MS may not do this effectively. Nevertheless, this reactivation was not related to the active and remission stages of the disease as measured against the above mentioned report from Alvarez-Lafuenteet al [31]. Therefore, although these reports are too few for any conclusive evaluation, it is possible that reactivation of HHV-6 in patients with MS may be the result of abnormalities in the immune response, rather than a cause of the disease, and in this regard various abnormalities have been reported in the immune responses from patients with MS [4].…”

“…Similarly, Franciotta et al [20] reported HHV-6 DNA absent in serum from patients with MS in remission, with active disease, in healthy controls and in patients with OND. Alvarez-Lafuenteet al [31] reported HHV-6 DNA in serum of 14.6% of patients with RRMS, with no difference between active and remission stages of the disease and absent in serum of healthy controls. Both Behzad-Behbahani et al [32] and Ahram et al [26] reported higher prevalence of HHV-6 DNA in serum from patients with MS; Behzad-Behbahani et al [32] reported HHV-6 DNA in serum from 33% of patients with MS, in 5% of healthy controls, and in 5% of patients with OND.…”

“…Sotelo et al [36] and Hon et al [37] reported HHV-6 DNA absent, Fredj et al [38] in 2.0%, Hay and Tenser, [35] in 14%, and Mameli et al [39] in 21.4% of healthy controls. lvarez-Lafuente et al [31], Alvarez-Lafuenteet al [40], and Chapenko et al [30] reported higher prevalence rates, 30.4%, 21.6%, and 28.7% respectively, while Ablashi et al [41] reported HHV-6 DNA in PBMCs from 60.0% of healthy controls. These reports show that HHV-6 may establish latency also in healthy subjects and with rather a wide prevalence range, 0% to 60.0% depending on the study population.…”