HHV6- from the Balto MD conf.

[Guest guest]

Sharryl Hemry may be able to comment on this conference

since I think she attended??

BALTIMORE, MD, Jun 23 (MARKET WIRE) --

A study suggests that a " smoldering " central nervous system (CNS)

infection may play a role in conditions that plague millions of

Americans. Kazuhiro Kondo, MD, PhD, of the Jikei University Medical

School in Tokyo identified a novel human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) protein

present in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients but not healthy

controls that may contribute to psychological symptoms often associated

with that and other disorders.

" Causes of many chronic diseases are unknown and chronic viral infection

is one of the most suspected candidates, " said Dr. Kondo, who spent 20

years trying to identify the latent protein responsible for chronic CNS

disease and mood disorders.

Support for Dr. Kondo's claim came from Stanford University's Montoya

who announced at the same conference that the antiviral drug Valcyte,

shown to be effective against HHV-6, resulted in an improvement in the

cognitive functioning of CFS patients, although not a complete resolution

of their fatigue. According to Dr. Kondo, drugs like Valcyte combat active

replication but can't completely control low-level smoldering. " To cure

the diseases, we have to reduce the latently infected virus or prevent its

reactivation, " he explains.

A Debilitating Disorder

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a debilitating disorder affecting one to four

million Americans and causing 25 billion dollars a year in economic

losses. The primary symptoms include post-exertional malaise, fatigue,

difficulty concentrating, unrefreshing sleep, muscle and joint pain. High

rates of depression co-occur with the disease.

Mostly striking, in working-age adults, the disease is often triggered by

a flu-like episode. Efforts to find a single pathogen responsible for the

disease have, however, failed and the cause of the disorder is unknown.

Novel Herpesvirus Protein is Associated with Altered Nervous System Cell

Activity and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Depression

Kondo identified a novel HHV-6 protein associated with latent

(non-replicating) HHV-6-infected nervous system and immune cells.

Transfecting this new protein, called SITH-1 (Small Intermediate Stage

Transcript of HHV-6), into nervous system cells called glial cells,

resulted in greatly increased intracellular calcium levels. Increased

intracellular calcium levels are believed to play an important role in

psychological disorders and can contribute to cell death. Expressing the

SITH protein though the use of an adenoviral vector in mouse resulted in

manic-like behavior.

A serological study indicated that 71% of CFS patients with psychological

symptoms and none of the health controls possessed the antibody against

the SITH-1 protein (p < .0001). Further tests indicated that 53% of

depression and 76% of bipolar depression patients possessed the antibody.

Traditional Viral Tests May Overlook Important Disease Causing Processes

Researchers have suspected that central nervous system infections could

contribute to psychological and central nervous system disorders, and

patients with CFS have a much higher than average rate of depression. This

virus spreads cell-to-cell instead of releasing viral particles into the

bloodstream. This has hampered efforts to demonstrate that the virus plays

a role in CNS disease. " This virus persists in the brain and other

tissues, but not the blood, which is where investigators have looked, "

says Loomis, Executive Director of the HHV-6 Foundation. " Indeed,

standard serum PCR DNA for direct evidence of the virus are useless, " she

added. New ultra-sensitive assays are under development, she reports, " but

currently the best way to identify patients with smoldering HHV-6

infection is to look for elevated IgG antibody titers. "

Dharam Ablashi, the co-discoverer of the HHV-6 virus, and the HHV-6

Foundation's Scientific Director warns that the test won't be available in

the near future. " It may take years to get the assay validated and into

commercial production, but will be worth the wait. This assay could

identify large numbers of patients with CNS dysfunction who could benefit

from antiviral treatment. The HHV-6 Foundation is working hard to help

scientists like Dr. Kondo develop better assays, " says Ablashi.

The HHV-6 Foundation

The HHV-6 Foundation encourages scientific exchanges and provides grants

to researchers seeking to increase our understanding of HHV-6 infection

in a wide array of central nervous system disorders.

Contact:

Loomis

Executive Director

HHV-6 Foundation

Phone: 805-969-1174

www.hhv-6foundation.org/ <http://www.hhv-6foundation.org/>