Detection of HHV-6B in post-mortem central nervous system tissue of a post-bone marrow transplant recipient: a multi-virus array analysis.

Karen Yao, Nahid Akyani, Donatella Donati, Naomi Sengamalay, Julie Fotheringham, Elodie Ghedin, Michael Bishop, John Barrett, Fatah Kashanchi, Steven Jacobson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: HHV-6 has been implicated in a number of neurological disorders. Recent evidence has suggested high incidence of HHV-6 infection in patients (46%) undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT). OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether HHV-6 plays a role in the development of fatal encephalopathy in an allogeneic post-BMT patient using an unbiased approach. RESULTS: Detection of HHV-6 viral DNA sequence and RNA expression were demonstrated in fresh frozen post-mortem autopsy material derived from the insular cortex using a multi-virus array platform. In addition, PCR analysis by real-time quantitative TaqMan demonstrated high viral burden in multiple brain regions tested. Sequencing analysis of PCR product confirmed the virus to be HHV-6 variant B. CONCLUSIONS: Active infection as demonstrated by expression of viral RNA and high viral load in the CNS suggest a possible pathogenic role of HHV-6 in development neurologic complications post-BMT.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)S57-62
JournalJournal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
Volume37 Suppl 1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases

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