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Lymphoproliferative responses to human herpesvirus‐6 variant A and variant B in healthy adults
Author(s) -
Wang FuZhang,
Dahl Helena,
Ljungman Per,
Linde Annika
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199902)57:2<134::aid-jmv8>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - antigen , serology , lymphoproliferative response , virology , titer , virus , immunology , lymphoproliferative disorders , biology , human herpesvirus 6 , herpesviridae , medicine , antibody , viral disease , lymphoma , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , genetics , in vitro
Human herpesviurs‐6 (HHV‐6) isolates can be classified into variants A and B, and over 95% of people older than 2 years of age are seropositive for either or both variants. However, the prevalence of the two HHV‐6 variants is still not defined since the serological methods used at present cannot discriminate one variant from the other. Lymphoproliferative responses to glycine extracted cellular antigens from human herpesvirus‐6 (HHV‐6) GS strain (variant A)‐ and Z 29 strain (variant B)‐infected T‐lymphoid cell lines were examined in healthy Swedish and Japanese adults. Nine of 36 (25%) persons had responses to the GS antigen, while 21/36 (58%) had responses to the Z 29 antigen ( P = 0.008). Individuals with low anti–HHV‐6 IgG titers (⩽320) were more likely to respond to the Z 29 antigen than to the GS antigen ( P = 0.006), while there was no difference in those with high anti–HHV‐6 IgG titers (⩾1280). Three of 7 Japanese adults had lymphoproliferative responses to the GS antigen compared with 6/29 Swedes (not significant), and 7/7 Japanese had lymphoproliferative responses to the Z 29 antigen compared with 14/29 Swedes ( P = 0.03). Lymphoproliferative responses were neither related with the presence of HHV‐6 DNA nor related with the presence of HHV‐7 DNA in peripheral blood cells. These results suggest a higher prevalence of HHV‐6 variant B than variant A in both Swedes and Japanese adults, and possibly a difference in either the HHV‐6 virus strains and/or the nature of immune response of Swede and Japanese. J. Med. Virol. 57:134–139, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.