Attenuation of human herpesvirus 6B reactivation by aging

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 91; no. 7; pp. 1335 - 1341
• Main Authors: Kobayashi, Nobuyuki, Nishiyama, Toshiko, Yamauchi, Takashi, Shimada, Kazuya, Suka, Machi, Kondo, Kazuhiro, Yanagisawa, Hiroyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Activation; Adult; Age; Aging; Alcoholic beverages; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Attenuation; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Correlation; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Female; Herpesvirus 6, Human - physiology; human herpesvirus 6 (HHV‐6); Humans; immune system; Immunoglobulins; latent infection; Male; Middle Aged; Mutation; Occupational health; reactivation; Roseolovirus Infections - epidemiology; Roseolovirus Infections - immunology; Roseolovirus Infections - virology; Saliva; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Serology; Smoking; Virology; Virus Activation; Workers; Young Adult; immune system; reactivation; latent infection; human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6)
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25434

Objective There has been little research on human herpesvirus 6B (HHV‐6B) in healthy adults and prevalences in different age groups have been unclear. Therefore, the major objective of this study was to evaluate seroprevalence to HHV‐6 antibodies in ordinary working people and examine the effect of aging on seroprevalence. Also, as HHV‐6B is reactivated in saliva, another objective was to investigate an association between age and HHV‐6B reactivation based on measured salivary HHV‐6 DNA levels. Methods Our subjects were 77 ordinary office workers who underwent a health checkup. In this population, we measured anti‐HHV‐6 antibody titers using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and salivary HHV‐6 DNA levels. In addition to examining an association with age, we examined associations with body mass index, smoking habit, and alcohol consumption as confounding factors. Results There was a significant decrease in the seropositivity of HHV‐6 antibodies in subjects of 50 years and older, and age was significantly negatively correlated with anti‐HHV‐6 antibody titers. Age and salivary HHV‐6 DNA levels were also significantly negatively correlated but there were no significant correlations with other factors. Conclusions Our results suggest that HHV‐6B reactivation is attenuated by aging. Thus, HHV‐6 antibodies steadily decrease in the body with aging.