Analysis of the origin of inherited chromosomally integrated human herpesvirus 6 in the Japanese population

• Published in: Journal of general virology Vol. 98; no. 7; pp. 1823 - 1830
• Main Authors: Kawamura, Yoshiki, Ohye, Tamae, Miura, Hiroki, Ihira, Masaru, Kato, Yuri, Kurahashi, Hiroki, Yoshikawa, Tetsushi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-07-2017
• Subjects: Adult; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 - genetics; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 - virology; Female; Genome, Viral; Herpesvirus 6, Human - classification; Herpesvirus 6, Human - genetics; Herpesvirus 6, Human - isolation & purification; Herpesvirus 6, Human - physiology; Humans; Japan; Male; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Roseolovirus Infections - congenital; Roseolovirus Infections - genetics; Roseolovirus Infections - virology; Virus Integration
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.000834

Integration of the complete human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) genome into the telomere of a chromosome has been reported in some individuals (inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6; iciHHV-6). Since the proportion of iciHHV-6-positive individuals with integration in chromosome 22 is high in Japan, we hypothesized a founder effect. In this study, we sought to elucidate the reason for the high proportion of viral integrations into chromosome 22. We analyzed six cases of iciHHV-6A and two cases of iciHHV-6B, including one iciHHV-6A case with a matched sample from a father and one iciHHV-6B case with a matched sample from a mother. In iciHHV-6A, the same copy numbers of viral telomeric repeat sequences (TRS) and the same five microsatellite markers were detected in both the index case and paternal sample. Moreover, the same five microsatellite markers were demonstrated in four cases and the same copy numbers of viral TRS were demonstrated in two pairs of two cases. The present microsatellite analysis suggested that the viral genomes detected in some iciHHV-6A patients were derived from a common ancestral integration.