Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-4-4
pubmed:abstractText
The presence of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in brain tissues of 40 consecutive post-mortem cases was examined. For each case, autopsy samples were collected from the cerebellum, frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes of both sides of the brain. HHV-6 DNA was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction and characterised into variants A and B. Overall, 97/400 (24.3%) samples were positive for HHV-6 DNA with 16 being variant A and 81 being variant B, but none of the samples harboured both variants. When analysed by patient, 34/40 (85%) had HHV-6 DNA detected in the brain. The viral DNA positivity did not show significant variation with gender and age. Four patients harboured variant A, 23 harboured variant B, and seven had both variants at different positions. The results indicate that both HHV-6A and HHV-6B are neurotropic and human brain may be another site for latency. HHV-6B was detected in brain tissues of a majority (75%) of the studied population and with a widespread distribution within the brain. Although the observed prevalence of HHV-6A in brain is lower (27.5%), in view of its lower seroprevalence, the neuroinvasive potential of variant A may be comparable to that of variant B. Although both variants are potential pathogens for the nervous system, the fact that they can exist, probably for most of the time, as commensals in human brain needs to be considered when interpreting their roles in neuropathology.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0146-6615
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
64
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
42-6
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Prevalence and distribution of human herpesvirus 6 variants A and B in adult human brain.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China. paulkschan@cu.hk.edu.hk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article