A fifth case of limbic encephalitis associated with GAD antibodies and HHV-6 infection has been reported, this time in an immunocompetent woman with chromosomally integrated HHV-6, epilepsy, and psychosis. The patient’s condition improved (with a drop in GAD antibody titers and stabilization of psychotic symptoms) in response to three weeks of antiviral therapy but relapsed when antiviral therapy was withdrawn.
HHV-6 & 7 found in spinal fluid of immunocompetent children suspected of CNS infection
An Italian study on immunocompetent children with suspected CNS infections found HHV-6 and HHV-7 DNA in 4.2% and 4.8% of 304 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, respectively. Although once considered rare in the immunocompetent, recent studies with more sensitive methods have found HHV-6 in the CSF of 4-17% of immunocompetent children with seizures or suspected CNS infections.
Saliva DNA load for HHV-6 (but not HHV-7) elevated in caregivers of patients with dementia
Investigators associated with a dementia center at Kobe University Hospital found that saliva HHV-6 DNA levels may serve as an objective marker for caregiver exhaustion. The saliva HHV-6 DNA levels in caregivers (log 3.04 copies/ ml) were significantly higher than in those of non-caregivers (2.78 copies/ml).
Can depression, psychiatric disorders and fatigue be triggered by a neurovirulent latent HHV-6B protein?
Three virologists led by Kazuhiro Kondo, MD, PhD, a professor of virology at Jikei University School of Medicine, have filed a patent on a method to diagnose and treat prevent mood disorders which he says are initiated by latent and neurovirulent HHV-6B residing in glial cells, and that this condition can be treated effectively with nasal sprays, using the olfactory nerve as a route to the brain. Dr. Kondo has named this protein SITH-1 or “small protein encoded by intermediate state transcript”.
HHV-6 induced Parkinsonism post-transplant
A group of researchers from Sao Paulo, Brazil reported the development of HHV-6 infection in the striatum of a 32-year-old man six weeks after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This is the first reported case of HHV-6 infection affecting the striatum and presenting with Parkinsonism post-HSCT.
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