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CD46 expression and HHV‐6 infection in patients with multiple sclerosis
Author(s) -
AlvarezLafuente R.,
GarciaMontojo M.,
De Las Heras V.,
DominguezMozo M. I.,
Bartolome M.,
Arroyo R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2009.01163.x
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , viral load , immunology , real time polymerase chain reaction , cd46 , medicine , whole blood , gene expression , biology , immune system , gene , virus , genetics , complement system , in vitro
Objectives – The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between the levels of the CD46 expression, and the presence and viral load of HHV‐6 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods – We collected blood and serum samples of 103 patients with MS and the same number of healthy blood donors (HBD); total DNA and RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and serum, and then analyzed using quantitative real‐time PCR for the detection of CD46 transcripts and HHV‐6 genomes; the expression of rRNA18s was used for the calculation of the relative expression of CD46. Results – Almost 80% of patients with MS had increased levels of CD46 in comparison with HBD, and a positive correlation was also found between the over‐expression of CD46 in patients with MS and the HHV‐6 DNA prevalence and viral load in the blood and serum. Discussion – Therefore, the up‐regulation of CD46 expression in patients with MS with HHV‐6 infection could constitute an immunopathogenic factor that should be further investigated to elucidate its role in MS.