ON THE ROLE OF HUMAN HERPESVIRUS-6 IN VIRAL LATENCY IN NERVOUS-TISSUEIN CEREBRAL LYMPHOMA

Latent infections by human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) in nervous tissue and its role in human disease are poorly understood. For the present study , an improved PCR method has bean applied to brain tissue samples from 5 different brain regions from 20 forensic post-mortem cases without neurologic involvement. Spleen tissue from these cases as well as 5 ce rebral lymphoma tissue samples were also examined. HHV6 DNA was detect ed in 3 of 20 brains. The viral sequences could be amplified from cort ical brain tissue from these 3 cases. In one of these cases, HHV6 DNA was detectable in two separate tissue samples. PCR was negative in bra in lymphoma and spleen tissue. These findings point toward HHV6 latenc y in brain tissue and might thus support the reported glial tropism of this virus. No role could be found for HHV6 in the pathogenesis of ce rebral lymphoma.