Detection of HHV-6B in post-mortem central nervous system tissue of a post-bone marrow transplant recipient: a
Karen Yao1, Nahid Akyani, Donatella Donati
1Viral Immunology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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.
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