A third of patients with acute liver failure were found to have a betaherpesvirus infection when tested for all herpesviruses. HHV-6 was the most common infection, followed by CMV and HHV-7. No other herpesviruses were found.
HHV-6 and enterovirus confirmed as the leading cause “fever without source” in young children
A Swiss team studied 134 young children who were experiencing unidentified high fevers and were able to find at least one virus in 35% of those patients. The two biggest culprits were enterovirus (14%) and HHV-6 (11%).
Weizman Institute study reveals a comprehensive annotation of HHV-6A/B, providing a rich resource for future studies
Israeli scientists have identified hundreds of new open reading frames, generating an unbiased atlas of the HHV-6 proteome. They also identified three highly abundant long non-coding RNAs.
Differential gene expression pattern shared in herpesviruses, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s patients
Researchers from GlaxoSmithKline found a significant overlap in differentially expressed genes shared by those with herpesvirus infections, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. On the other hand, there was no significant overlap between herpesviruses and Type 2 diabetes or Huntington’s disease.
HHV-6 DNA in bile fluid correlates with higher mortality in liver transplant patients
Persistent HHV-6 infection in the liver is hard to detect from plasma samples and liver biopsies may miss spotty infections. Bile fluid may be the best method for detecting herpesviruses that impact the liver.
HHV-6 encephalitis: Mayo clinic finds a high rate of severe hippocampal atrophy and neurological deficits
A Mayo clinic review of long-term outcome of patients with HHV-6 encephalitis showed that over 60% showed persistent sequelae associated with severe bilateral hippocampal atrophy. Symptoms included anterograde amnesia, aphasia, headaches, confusion and persistent memory deficits.
Yasuko Mori awarded Lifetime Achievement Award
Yasuko Mori, PhD, Professor of Clinical Virology at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine was awarded the HHV-6 Foundation’s Dharam Ablashi Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th International Conference on HHV-6 & 7.
HHV-6 latency gene U94 has anti-cancer effects in triple-negative breast cancer cells
The U94 “latency” gene of HHV-6, interferes with breast cancer proliferation and potentiates chemotherapy.
BioFire’s FilmArray multiplex encephalitis panel is causing headaches due to confusion over ciHHV-6 status and the meaning of a qualitative positive result
A rapid point-of-care test for patients with encephalitis and meningitis was heralded as a breakthrough, but because the test is not able to determine ciHHV-6 status or viral load, it now has physicians frustrated over how to interpret a positive result.
Berberine is as effective as ganciclovir in controlling CMV, and targets IE -2 protein transactivating activity
A Chinese medicine that has been used for thousands of years, berberine inhibits replication of CMV at micromolar levels in vitro. It was also effective against drug resistant strains of CMV, as well against murine cytomegalovirus.
Alexander Greninger awarded the Koichi Yamanishi Young Investigator Award for Basic Science
Alex Greninger, PhD, was awarded the Junior Investigator award for Basic Science at the 11th international HHV-6 & 7 Conference in Quebec City, Canada.
Xiaofeng Zhou awardeed Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research
Xiafeng Zhou was awarded the Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research at the 11th International HHV-6 & 7 Conference in Quebec City, Canada.
Herpesvirus acquires protein corona that facilitates the formation of Alzheimer’s plaques
Swedish researchers report that viruses interact with proteins to form a coating or protein corona that facilitates the formation of amyloid plaque, supporting previous findings by Harvard’s Rudy Tanzi and Robert Moir.
49 new CD4 T-cell-recognized HHV-6B antigens identified using genome-wide approach
University of Washington investigators utilized rare cell enrichment and an HLA-agnostic, proteome-wide approach to expand the library of known HHV-6 T cell antigens from 11 to 60.
New HLA-DR3-restricted HHV-6B peptides demonstrate broadly recognized polyfunctional and cytotoxic CD4 T-cell responses
University of Massachusetts investigators have identified 25 new naturally processed peptide sequences using mass spectrometry.