human herpesvirus 6 viremia in patients with classic multiple scelerosis in guilan, iran

introduction: during the past few years, an increasing body of evidence has suggested a possible role for human herpes virus 6 (hhv-6) in multiple sclerosis (ms) pathogenesis. despite the many reports supporting the relationship between hhv-6 and ms, this association has not been definitely proved or refuted, and the matter remains unresolved. the current study was aimed to investigate any relation between hhv-6 viremia and classic ms in patients in guilan province, northern iran. method: hhv-6 viremia was certified by molecular detection in study group (n=46) and control group (n=46) using nested-pcr. data were analyzed by using three statistical tests (chi square, odd ratio, and relative risk). results: hhv-6 genomic sequences were found totally in 28 out of 46 (60.8%) plasma dna samples of patients with ms, but were not found in rest of them. it was also found in 13 out of 46 (28.2%) control group. the difference in prevalence of hhv-6 dna in blood between patients with ms and control group was statistically significant (p=0.0027 and odd ratio=0.277). conclusion: the data of our study showed that hhv-6 can be implicated in the development of ms. we strongly support the need for further, objective, evidence-based examination of the relationship between hhv-6 infection and ms.