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http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID/journal/issues/v187n9/20943/brief/20943.abstract.html
The Journal of Infectious Diseases 2003;187:1377-1387
© 2003 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
0022-1899/2003/18709-0004$15.00
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| MAJOR ARTICLE |
High Frequency of Human Herpesvirus 6 DNA in Multiple Sclerosis Plaques Isolated by Laser Microdissection
Claudio Cermelli,1,5 Rossana Berti,1,3 Samantha S. Soldan,1,4,a Michael Mayne,1,6 James M. D'ambrosia,2 Samuel K. Ludwin,1,7 and Steven Jacobson1
1Neuroimmunology
Branch and 2Biostatistics Branch,
National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, and
3Department of Neuropharmacology and
Molecular Biology, Walter Reed
Army Institute of Research, Silver
Spring, Maryland; 4Institute for
Biomedical Sciences, Department of
Genetics, George Washington University,
Washington, DC; 5Department of
Hygiene, Microbiology, and Biostatistics,
University of Modena and
Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 6Department
of Pharmacology and Therapeutics,
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
and 7Department of Pathology,
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario,
Canada
Received 7 August 2002; accepted 2 December 2002; electronically published 9 April 2003.
| The frequency of human herpesvirus 6
(HHV-6) DNA was assessed in autopsy material from
multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques and
normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) from brains of
persons with MS, healthy brains, and brains of
persons with other neurologic diseases. Specific
areas from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain tissue
samples were isolated by laser microscope. DNA was
extracted from laser microdissected brain material,
and HHV-6 genomic sequences were amplified by
nested polymerase chain reaction. We analyzed 44
NAWM samples and 64 MS plaques from 13
patients with MS, 46 samples from 13 patients
with non-MS neurologic disorders, and 41 samples from
12 healthy control brains. Of the 44 NAWM
samples, 7 (15.9%) were positive for HHV-6 DNA
sequences, versus 37 (57.8%) of 64 MS plaques
(P < .0005). HHV-6 DNA was detected in
10 (21.7%) of 46 samples from patients with
non-MS neurologic disorders and in 11 (26.8%) of
41 samples from patients without known neurologic
disease. Although the frequency of HHV-6 DNA
did not differ significantly by sample type,
HHV-6 DNA was significantly more common in MS
plaques, suggesting that HHV-6 may play a role
in MS pathogenesis.
|
Presented in part: 4th International
Conference on Herpesviruses 6, 7, and 8, Paris, 10
12 May
2001 (abstract O22).
Informed consent was obtained from patients or their
parents/guardians, and human experimentation guidelines of the US
Department of Health and Human Services were followed.
Financial support: Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di
Carpi (to C.C.).
a Present affiliation:
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia.
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