The Infection State Of Human Herpesvirus-6 In Leukemia Patients

Objectives To explore the infection state of human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) in leukemia patients, and to research the association between HHV-6 and leukemia. Methods The anti-HHV-6 IgG in plasma levels were measured in a group ofuntreated patients with leukemia (n=53) with indirect immunofluorescence test. The control was divided into two subgroups, i.e.. healthy blood donors, and untreated non-leukemia patients (IDA, ITP and AA). The HHV-6 DNA in PBMC of the three groups was determined by nested-PCR, and nested RT-PCR was used to detect HHV-6 mRNA from PBMC.Results1. The positive rates of plasma anti-HHV-6 IgG in healthy blood donors ,untreated patients with leukemia and non-leukemia were 38.3% (23/60), 64.2% (34/53) and 70.4% (19/27) respectively. Among these leukemia patients, the positive rate of acute lymphocyte leukemia patients was 69.2% (9/13), 72.7% (8/11) in acute myeloid leukemia patients, 62.5% (5/8) in chronic lymphocyte leukemia patients, and 57.1%(12/21 ) in chronic myeloid leukemia patients. HHV-6 was significantly more prevalent in acute lymphocyte leukemia patients and non-leukemia patients than healthy blood donors (P<0.05) .2. The positive rates of HHV-6 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were 78.3% (47/60) in healthy blood donors, 71.7% (38/53 ) in untreated leukemia patients, and 74.1% (20/27) in untreated non-leukemia patients respectively. Among these leukemia patients, the positive rate was 69.2% (9/13) in acute lymphocyticleukemia patients, 63.6% (7/11) in acute myeloid leukemia patients, 76.2% (16/21) in chronic myeloid leukemia patients, and 75.0% ( 6/8 ) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. There were no statistical difference among healthy blood donor, untreated leukemia and non-leukemia groups (P>0.05) .3. The positive rates of HHV-6 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were 0%(0/60) in healthy blood donors, 11.3% (6/53) in untreated leukemia patients, and 3.7% (1/27) in untreated non-leukemia patients respectively. In these leukemia groups, the positive rate was 15.4% (2/13) in acute lymphocytic leukemia patients, 9.1% (1/11) in acute myeloid leukemia patients, 9.5% (2/21) in chronic myeloid leukemia patients, and 12.5% (1/8) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. There was significant difference between lymphocytic leukemia patients (ALL and CLL.) and non-leukemia patients (P<0.05) .Conclusion There was higher positive rate of anti-HHV-6 antibody in untreated leukemia patients than other groups. And there were no statistic difference among the healthy blood donor group, untreated leukemia patients and untreated non-leukemia patients in HHV-6 DNA positive rates .In untreated t leukemia patients, there was higher HHV-6 active infection than untreated non-leukemia patients, especially, in acute lymphocytic leukemia patients.