Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Clin Med 2022 May 29;11(11). Epub 2022 May 29.

Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disorder generally affecting older adults, is the most common form of dementia worldwide. The disease is marked by severe cognitive and psychiatric decline and has dramatic personal and social consequences. Considerable time and resources are dedicated to the pursuit of a better understanding of disease mechanisms; however, the ultimate goal of obtaining a viable treatment option remains elusive. Read More

Virol J 2022 Jun 8;19(1):101. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Oswaldo Cruz Institute/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Background: Certain clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mimic those associated with human herpesvirus (HHV) infection. In this study, we estimated the prevalence of herpesvirus in patients with COVID-19 and determined if coinfection is associated with poorer outcomes and neurological symptoms.

Methods: We analyzed samples of 53 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Read More

Microbiol Immunol 2022 Jun 8. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Siences, Tehran, Iran.

Human herpes viruses (HHVs) are among the most common infectious agents detected in the gastrointestinal tract that might be involved in oncogenesis and other gastrointestinal disorders. Although the link between the EBV and gastric cancer (GC) has been established, role of the viruses in various stomach diseases remain unknown. The frequencies and viral copy number of EBV, CMV, and HHV-6 among 50 GC tumors and 105 chronic gastritis tissues were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Read More

Annu Rev Virol 2022 Jun 7. Epub 2022 Jun 7.

Departments of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Structural Biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA; email:

Herpesviruses are ancient large DNA viruses that have exploited gene capture as part of their strategy to escape immune surveillance, promote virus spreading, or reprogram host cells to benefit their survival. Most acquired genes are transmembrane proteins and cytokines, such as viral G protein-coupled receptors (vGPCRs), chemokines, and chemokine-binding proteins. This review focuses on the vGPCRs encoded by the human β- and γ-herpesviruses. Read More

Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2022 Jun 31;78:103897. Epub 2022 May 31.

Department of Neurology, Larkin Community Hospital Palm Springs Campus, Hialeah, FL, United States.

Introduction: Vero Cell, AstraZeneca, Janssen, mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for emergency use in Nepal. These vacines have been linked to some adverse effects, including fever, myalgia, and headache. Furthermore Bell's Palsy a rare adverse effect was also reported to be associated with the use of mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine in some patients. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 9;13:880016. Epub 2022 May 9.

Department of Medicine E, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.

Background: Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) is divided into primary and secondary forms. The former is more prevalent in children and is usually a self-limiting disease. Secondary AIN is more common in adults and often occurs in the setting of another autoimmune disorder or secondary to infections, malignancies or medications. Read More

Cureus 2022 Apr 20;14(4):e24319. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Neurology, Vidant Medical Center/East Carolina University, Greenville, USA.

We present the case of a 26-year-old male who was found to have human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in his cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during acute presentation of multiple sclerosis (MS). Paresthesia of the lower extremities was his only symptom during the initial presentation, and workup for MS was not included during this evaluation. A single dose of IV steroids failed to improve his condition, and symptoms became more severe. Read More

Microbiol Spectr 2022 May 23:e0236921. Epub 2022 May 23.

Riga Stradins University, Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Riga, Latvia.

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) contains two genes (U12 and U51) that encode putative homologues of human G-protein-coupled receptors like CCR1, CCR3, and CCR5. It has been shown that these viral proteins can be expressed on the surface of epithelial and some peripheral blood mononuclear cells, suggesting that they could potentially induce autoimmunity. We aimed to investigate the possibility of HHV-6 encoded viral chemokine receptors (U12 and U51) involvement in autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) development by detecting viral peptide specific antibodies in AIT patient samples. Read More

J Mol Diagn 2022 05 22;24(5):476-484. Epub 2022 Feb 22.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington; Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington. Electronic address:

Sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a promising milieu for broad-based cancer and infectious disease diagnostics. The performance of cfDNA sequencing for infectious disease diagnostics is chiefly limited by inadequate analytical sensitivity. The current study investigated whether the analytical sensitivity of cfDNA sequencing for viral diagnostics could be improved by selective sequencing of short cfDNA fragments, given prior observations of shorter fragment size distribution in microbial and cytomegalovirus-derived cfDNA compared with human-derived cfDNA. Read More

J Med Virol 2022 May 12. Epub 2022 May 12.

Department of Medical Specialities, Dermatology Unit, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.

Diabetologia 2022 May 11. Epub 2022 May 11.

Institute of Medical Information Sciences, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.

Aims/hypothesis: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide, and previous studies have suggested that it is higher in individuals who are seropositive for herpesviruses. This study examines the prospective association of herpesviruses with (pre)diabetes to evaluate their potential role in diabetes aetiology.

Methods: Two follow-up examinations of the German population-based KORA cohort (F4 and FF4) were used to identify participants with normal glucose tolerance at baseline, thus being at risk for (pre)diabetes (n = 1257). Read More

Int J Cardiol 2022 Aug 6;360:1-4. Epub 2022 May 6.

Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, 70376 Stuttgart, Germany.

Background: Coronary spasm has been suggested to be the underlying mechanism of chest pain in patients with myocarditis and unobstructed coronary arteries. Here we sought to investigate a potential association between virus type and coronary spasm endotype in patients with biopsy-proven viral myocarditis.

Methods: A total of 618 consecutive patients with unobstructed coronary arteries who underwent endomyocardial biopsy between 2008 and 2018 were screened. Read More

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2022 Jul 29;31(7):106509. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. Electronic address:

Objectives: Although the association between genetic factors, such as RNF213 mutations, and moyamoya disease (MMD) has been well investigated, environmental factors are largely undetermined. Thus, we aimed to examine whether viral infection increases the risk of MMD.

Materials And Methods: To eliminate the effect of presence or absence of the RNF213 p. Read More

J Med Virol 2022 Apr 29. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Adenoids and tonsils have gained interest as a new in vivo model to study local immune functions and virus reservoirs. Especially herpesviruses are interesting because their prevalence and persistence in local lymphoid tissue are incompletely known. Our aim was to study herpesvirus and common respiratory virus infections in nonacutely ill adenotonsillar surgery patients. Read More

JCI Insight 2022 Jun 8;7(11). Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic, debilitating, multisystem illness of unknown etiology for which no cure and no diagnostic tests are available. Despite increasing evidence implicating EBV and human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) as potential causative infectious agents in a subset of patients with ME/CFS, few mechanistic studies address a causal relationship. In this study we examined a large ME/CFS cohort and controls and demonstrated a significant increase in activin A and IL-21 serum levels, which correlated with seropositivity for antibodies against the EBV and HHV-6 protein deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPases) but no increase in CXCL13. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 4;13:864898. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

Immunology and Microbiology Graduate Program, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.

Human roseolovirus U20 and U21 are type I membrane glycoproteins that have been implicated in immune evasion by interfering with recognition of classical and non-classical MHC proteins. U20 and U21 are predicted to be type I glycoproteins with extracytosolic immunoglobulin-like domains, but detailed structural information is lacking. AlphaFold and RoseTTAfold are next generation machine-learning-based prediction engines that recently have revolutionized the field of computational three-dimensional protein structure prediction. Read More

Cureus 2022 Mar 9;14(3):e23007. Epub 2022 Mar 9.

Internal Medicine, St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Paterson, USA.

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) is a virus known for causing the highly contagious infection, roseola infantum, and has been associated with causing encephalitis in pediatric patients and less commonly in adult patients as well. Regardless of the patient's age, the primary HHV-6 infection could be complicated by neurological sequelae including encephalitis, acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures syndrome, or demyelinating disease. HHV-6 encephalitis does occur in an adult as a primary infection or reactivation. Read More

Transpl Infect Dis 2022 Jun 8;24(3):e13836. Epub 2022 May 8.

Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Introduction: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) can reactivate after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

Methods: The epidemiology of HHV-6 infections and their impact on outcome after allo-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed in 689 adult allo-HSCT recipients (January 2015-December 2018). Chromosomal integration of HHV-6 (ciHHV-6) in the donor was retrospectively investigated to critically evaluate antiviral treatment strategies. Read More

Cureus 2022 Feb 26;14(2):e22632. Epub 2022 Feb 26.

Internal Medicine, Louisiana State University (LSU) Health, Shreveport, USA.

Alternative splicing is an epigenetic mechanism that plays a role in the development and function of antigen-specific lymphocytes. One such is the zinc-finger-RNA-binding-motif-and-serine/arginine-rich-2 (ZRSR2), which is clinically implicated in myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia. Here, we present a case of a young male with myriad autoimmune conditions and adenocarcinoma of the colon in the setting of ZRSR2 mutation. Read More

J Clin Lab Anal 2022 May 29;36(5):e24343. Epub 2022 Mar 29.

Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province (Women and Children's Hospital of Hubei Province), Wuhan, China.

Etiologies of acute liver failure in children can be multiple factors including virus infection, drug-induced damage, and different pathogens. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is an emerging method for pan-pathogen screening. Here we reported a case of acute liver failure in a 15-month-old male, using NGS and gene sequencing to determine the cause of acute liver failure may be caused by pathogens, drug-induction and pathogenic variant gene. Read More

Acta Neurol Belg 2022 Jun 28;122(3):583-585. Epub 2022 Mar 28.

Department of Neurology, Jessa Hospital, Stadsomvaart 11, B-3500, Hasselt, Belgium.

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), in particularly HHV-6B, can reactivate in immunocompromised patients. Especially after stem cell transplantation, reactivation of HHV-6 can cause complications, such as limbic encephalitis. We present a case of a 61-year-old man with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Read More

J Med Virol 2022 Jul 26;94(7):3464-3468. Epub 2022 Mar 26.

Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Members of the human Herpesviridae are found in high prevalence in the human virome. While these viruses are known to cause numerous disease pathologies in symptomatic individuals little is known concerning the role that these viruses may have in modulating the host immune system in asymptomatic "healthy" individuals, especially during the aging process. Examination of three cohorts of "healthy asymptomatic" individuals (n = 255) for the presence of antibodies against the herpesviruses deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) as a marker for lytic/abortive-lytic replication demonstrated that all cohorts exhibited differential anti-herpesvirus dUTPase antibodies positivity frequencies ranging from 40. Read More

Virus Res 2022 05 4;313:198726. Epub 2022 Mar 4.

Department of Experimental Medicine, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, Rome 00161, Italy. Electronic address:

HHV-6A is a neurotropic herpesvirus able to infect several CNS cells including astrocytes and primary neurons. Here we found that HHV-6A infection of astrocytoma cells, by reducing autophagy, increased ROS and induced ER stress, promoting the release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1β and activating pathways such as STAT3, NF-kB and mTOR. Moreover, HHV-6A infection increased the production of CXCL13, a B lymphocyte attracting chemokine, whose recruitment in the CNS could further enhance neuroinflammation. Read More

J Dermatol 2022 Jun 3;49(6):652-655. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Department of Dermatology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan.

Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DiHS) is a severe drug eruption that can induce reactivation of herpesviruses such as human herpesvirus 6, resulting in symptom flare-up and organ damage. DiHS is known as drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) in Europe. We report three cases of DiHS that could have been triggered by mRNA-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. Read More

J Med Virol 2022 Jul 10;94(7):3359-3367. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Department of Pediatrics, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan.

Reactivation of Betaherpesvirinae (Human herpesvirus 6A: HHV-6A, -6B, HHV-7) may be associated with mental illness and host fatigue. This study aimed to determine whether viral reactivation, measured by monitoring salivary viral DNA load, can be used to monitor depression in pregnant and postpartum women. Saliva samples were collected from 64 pregnant women at five points of observation periods. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 10;13:840753. Epub 2022 Feb 10.

Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

The role for human herpesvirus (HHV)-6A or HHV-6B in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis has been controversial. Possibly because the damage of the virus infection may occur before onset of clinical symptoms and because it has been difficult to detect active infection and separate serological responses to HHV-6A or 6B. Recent studies report that in MS patients the serological response against HHV-6A is increased whereas it is decreased against HHV-6B. Read More

Viruses 2022 01 31;14(2). Epub 2022 Jan 31.

Berlin Institute of Health at Charite (BIH)-Universitätmedizin Berlin-BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), 13353 Berlin, Germany.

Introduction: This study investigated the spontaneous clinical course of patients with endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)-proven lymphocytic myocarditis and cardiac human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) DNA presence, and the effectiveness of steroid-based intervention in HHV6-positive patients.

Results: 756 heart failure (HF) patients underwent an EMB procedure to determine the underlying cause of unexplained HF. Low levels of HHV6 DNA, detectable by nested PCR only, were found in 10. Read More

Viruses 2022 01 28;14(2). Epub 2022 Jan 28.

Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that arises from immune system attacks to the protective myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers and ensures optimal communication between brain and body. Although the cause of MS is unknown, a number of factors, which include viruses, have been identified as increasing the risk of displaying MS symptoms. Specifically, the ubiquitous and highly prevalent Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus, and other viruses have been identified as potential triggering agents. Read More

J Neurovirol 2022 02 25;28(1):151-157. Epub 2022 Feb 25.

Department of Pediatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.

Primary human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection is sometimes accompanied by acute encephalopathy with reduced subcortical diffusion (AED) in immunocompetent children. We investigated exosomal microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera of patients with HHV-6-associated AED (n = 5) and febrile seizure (FS) (n = 5) using high-throughput sequencing. A total of 176 and 663 miRNAs were identified in CSF and serum exosomes, respectively. Read More

Med Sci (Paris) 2022 Feb 18;38(2):168-176. Epub 2022 Feb 18.

Axe des maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Québec, 2705 boulevard Laurier, Québec, Canada - Département de microbiologie, maladies infectieuses et immunologie, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec, 2705 boulevard Laurier, Québec, Canada.

Herpesviruses are undisputed masters of disguise. The ability to become invisible to the immune system effectors is a complex process resting on a variety of stealth approaches. Among these, human herpesviruses-6A and -6B (HHV-6A/B) have developed the unique ability to integrate their genome within the ends of chromosomes allowing viral persistence in the absence of viral protein expression. Read More