Human herpesvirus 7 is latent in gastric mucosa

✍ Scribed by Arianna Gonelli; Sergio Boccia; Michela Boni; Alessandro Pozzoli; Caterina Rizzo; Patrizia Querzoli; Enzo Cassai; Dario Di Luca

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 119 KB
• Volume: 63
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/1096-9071(200104)63:4<277::aid-jmv1002>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

Chronic gastritis is associated frequently with persistent infection by Helicobacter pylori. However, not all patients with chronic gastritis have evidence of H. pylori infection, suggesting that other factors might contribute to the development of gastritis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate a possible etiologic role of human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7). HHV-7 DNA was detected in about 80% of gastric biopsies, both in healthy mucosa from individuals without evidence of in¯ammation and in biopsies from patients with histologically con®rmed chronic gastric in¯ammation. HHV-7 was present also in H. pylori negative samples, was associated speci-®cally with gastric tissue and not with residual blood within the mucosa, and was present with high viral loads. HHV-7 DNA persisted in several patients also after remission of gastric in¯ammation and the viral presence did not correlate with speci®c symptoms. Analysis by RT-PCR showed that HHV-7 is transcriptionally inactive in chronic gastritis lesions. These observations show that gastric tissue represents a site of HHV-7 latent infection and a potential reservoir for viral reactivation.