4
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

Cellular localization of human herpesvirus-6 in the brains of children with AIDS encephalopathy

, , , , &
Pages 30-39 | Received 28 Sep 1994, Accepted 19 Oct 1994, Published online: 10 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

Human herpesvirus-6, the etiologic agent of exanthem subitum, is a ubiquitous virus that infects almost all children by the age of 2 years and that has previously been shown to be neuroinvasive. These characteristics suggest that human herpesvirus-6 may be important in the neuropathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children. To address this hypothesis, we evaluated postmortem pediatric brain tissues for the presence of human herpesvirus-6 infection. Using in situ hybridization with a digoxigenin-labeled DNA probe for the large tegument protein gene of human herpesvirus-6, we detected nuclear signals in postmortem brain tissue from 4/5 children with human immunodeficiency virus-1 encephalitis. Human herpesvirus-6 DNA was found in numereous oligodendrocytes of the white matter and less frequently in astrocytes, macrophages, microglia and neurons. The human herpesvirus-6 positive cells detected by in situ hybridization were not immunoreactive either for human herpesvirus-6 early nuclear phosphoproteins or for surface glycoproteins associated with productive infection. Only rare human herpesvirus-6 infected cells were found in age-matched control brain tissues. No human herpesvirus-6 infected cells were found in human fetal brain tissue. These data suggest that human herpesvirus-6 is more extensively disseminated in neural cells in the presence of human immunodeficiency infection and immunodeficiency in pediatric AIDS patients, and it may contribute to the pathogenesis of AIDS encephalopathy.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.