%0 Journal Article
%T Presence of Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV6) in pediatric lymphomas: impact on clinical course and association with cytomegalovirus infection
%A Samah A Loutfy
%A Mohamed Fawzy
%A Mohamed El-Wakil
%A Manar M Moneer
%J Virology Journal
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1743-422x-7-287
%X Presence of HHV6 DNA and CMV DNA was investigated by PCR assay in both WBC's and plasma samples from 50 patients diagnosed with HL or NHL. CMV antibody titer was also determined in sera obtained from each patient. Twenty apparently healthy siblings were used as a control group.In a study group of 50 patients diagnosed with HL or NHL, 23/50 (46%) were found to be positive for herpes virus DNA (HHV6 or CMV) in WBC's or plasma by PCR assay and this was significantly higher than its presence in the pediatric control group 2/20 (10%) (p = 0.005). Ten out of these 23 (43%) were found to have active CMV infection. Fifty six percent of patients with CMV infection were found among NHL cases with B- subtype. The presence of both herpes viruses DNA was significantly associated with more frequent episodes of febrile neutropenia (median 3 episodes), absolute neutrophil count (< 0.8), lymphocytes (< 0.5), and low hemoglobin level (< 9.1), (p < 0.05).The presence of HHV6 can be considered as a predicting indicator of cellular immunosuppression preceding the onset of CMV infection which may result in a severe outcome among pediatric lymphoma patients.Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) was first reported in 1986, as human B-lymphotropic virus. Name was subsequently changed to human herpesvirus 6 as its tropism was further characterized [1,2] and it was identified as a member of the ¦Â family of herpes viruses [3]. Seroepidemiological surveys have shown that HHV6 is highly prevalent in human populations in different geographical areas with prevalence varying between 70 and 100% [4]. HHV6 shares with other members of the human Herpesviridae family an ability to cause latent infection with reactivation during periods of immunosuppression [5]. Also, HHV6 and CMV share a tropism for cells of the immune system [6] and for induction of immunosuppression [7]. These similarities, together with the ability of HHV-6 to reactivate heterologous virus [8], may explain its role in the pathogenesis of CMV d
%U http://www.virologyj.com/content/7/1/287