T. Yoshikawa et al., Comparison of specific serological assays for diagnosing human herpesvirus6 infection after liver transplantation, CL DIAG LAB, 8(1), 2001, pp. 170-173
Cross-reactivity between human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and human herpesvirus
7 (HHV-7) antibodies and the reliability of specific serological assays wer
e analyzed for 12 patients with concurrent HHV-6 and HHV-7 antibody respons
es after transplantation with a liver from a living relative by using an im
munofluorescence assay (IFA). A neutralizing antibody titer assay (NT) and
an immunoblot assay (IB) designed to detect immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody
to the HHV-6 immunodominant 101-kDa protein were compared in the diagnosis
of an active HHV-6 infection. A total of 9 of 12 patients demonstrated con
current HHV-6 and HHV-7 antibody responses, including increased Ige titers
and/or the presence of IgM by IFA, and were thus analyzed for cross-reactiv
e antibody to heterologous virus. The average percentages of residual antib
ody to HHV-6 and HHV-7 after absorption with HHV-6 antigen were 32.6% (rang
e, 6 to 50%) and 55.6% (range, 35 to 100%), respectively. All 12 patients w
ere subsequently analyzed for HHV-6 antibody by using IB and NT, IB detecte
d IgM antibody to the 101-kDa protein in 75% (9 of 12) of the recipients. A
significant rise in the NT antibody titer was detected in the same nine sa
mples. However, HHV-6 DNA was detected by PCR in only five of nine plasma s
amples collected from recipients with a specific serologic response against
HHV-6.