ANALYSIS OF HUMAN HERPES VIRUS-6 GENOMES IN LYMPHOID MALIGNANCY IN JAPAN

Ninety cases of malignant lymphoma and 56 cases of reactive lymphadeno pathy were studied using Southern blot analysis and the polymerase cha in reaction to identify human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) DNA. This was det ected in cases of lymphoid malignancy at a rate which ranged from 50.0 % to 68.8%. There were no differences in rates for different types of lymphoid malignancies. Herpes virus-6 DNA was detected by PCR in lymph oid malignancies less frequently than in reactive lymphadenopathies. I t was not detected in lymphoid malignancies using Southern blotting. T hese results suggest that HHV-6 DNA was not related to lymphoid malign ancy and was only a latent infection of non-neoplastic cells in tumour tissue.