Title: Active Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
Abstract: Context: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been linked with multiple sclerosis (MS).Objectives: To determine HHV-6 viral load in patients with MS, and to analyze separately its 2 variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B.Patients and Methods: We analyzed 149 blood and serum samples; 103 were from patients with relapsingremitting MS (33 during an MS relapse and 70 during remission), and 46 were from healthy blood donors.To determine whether the HHV-6 genome and its variants were present, we analyzed viral DNA using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, which has a sensitivity of 1 copy.Results: We found HHV-6 DNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 53.4% of patients and 30.4% of healthy blood donors; HHV-6A was found in 20.4% of patients and