Confirmation of the low clinical effect of human herpesvirus-6 and -7 infections after renal transplantation.

Human herpesvirus-6 and -7 (HHV-6 and HHV-7) may lead to pathological manifestations in renal transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to investigate beta-herpesvirus infections in 50 adult kidney transplant recipients after transplantation to examine the effect, interactions, and pathogenic consequences of infection and the effect of immunosuppressive regimens and Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) prophylaxis with VACV. Beta-herpesviruses loads in the blood of 50 adult kidney transplant recipients over a 6-month period after transplantation and 198 blood donors were determined using polymerase chain reaction.

Trichloroethylene exposure and somatic mutations of the VHL gene in patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: We investigated the association between exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) and mutations in the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene and the subsequent risk for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: Cases were recruited from a case-control study previously carried out in France that suggested an association between exposures to high levels of TCE and increased risk of RCC. From 87 cases of RCC recruited for the epidemiological study, 69 were included in the present study.

Identification of human herpesvirus 6 variants A and B by primer-specific real-time PCR may help to revisit their respective role in pathology.

Background: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) isolates are classified into two variants, termed HHV-6A and HHV-6B, on the basis of distinct genetic, antigenic and biological characteristics, but the specific pathogenicity of each variant remains poorly understood.

Objectives: To design a rapid, sensitive and specific real-time variant-specific PCR (VS-PCR) method to differentiate both variants in biological specimens.

Study Design: The VS-PCR was adapted from a real-time PCR assay, based on TaqMan technology, previously developed for the genome quantitation of both HHV-6 variants [Gautheret-Dejean A, Manichanh C, Thien-Ah-Koon F, Fillet AM, Mangeney N, Vidaud M, et al.

Persistence of DNA in cell cultures may jeopardize the analysis of human herpesvirus 6 dynamics by means of real-time PCR.

The use of real-time PCR has been described previously for analysing both the replication kinetics and antiviral susceptibility of human herpesvirus 6 in MT4 cells. It is now reported that viral DNA persists in infected cell culture long after the end of lytic virus replication. Consequently, high levels of DNA may correspond to an absence of infectivity and late readout occurring after the exponential phase of virus growth may lead to misinterpretation of the results of susceptibility assays.