Detection of human herpesvirus 6 DNA in T and B cell lymphomas

DNA extracted from tissues of 109 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders, including 40 T-cell lymphomas, 40 B-cell lymphomas, 8 Hodgkin's disease, 13 hyperplasia, 5 infectious mononucleosis, 2 histiocytic medullary reticulosis and 1 Kikuchi's disease, and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from 17 healthy donors were investigated for the presence of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) DNA sequence by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern hybridization. The procedures for DNA amplification were composed of the first round of PCR using a pair of primers LL and LR, which were contained in the HHV-6 major capsid gene, and the second round of nested PCR using an internal pair of primers LLN and LRN. Results showed that the prevalence of HHV-6 DNA sequence in human tissues was similar in both B and T cell lymphoma patients and normal adults, and viral heterogeneity was detected in the amplified DNA sequence from local strain of Taiwan as compared to that of U1102 strain from Uganda.