High silent prevalence of human herpesvirus 1 (HSV-1) infection affecting the indigenous reservation of the municipality of Dourados, Central-West Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The indigenous population located in the central region of Brazil, is the second largest in terms of population size in the country. The Indigenous Reserve of Dourados has risk factors that increase the vulnerability of the indigenous population to infectious diseases, especially Human alphaherpesvirus (HSV-1), a neglected disease with high prevalence in priority populations in developing countries. The virus can also cause many more severe diseases, including widespread neonatal infections, herpetic keratitis, and herpes encephalitis, which can be fatal if left untreated. We estimated the prevalence of anti-HSV-1 antibodies and correlated it with the demographic and behavioral characteristics of the Indigenous population of the Jaguapirú and Bororó villages (Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil). METHODS: Our approach was cross-sectional. From March 2017 to November 2018. Using anti-HSV-1 (Gg1) IgM and anti-HSV-1 (gG1) IgG Euroimmun and the detection and quantification of HSV-1 viral load in plasma samples, through real-time PCR. The maps were constructed using QGIS and the statistical analyses using R Studio software. RESULTS: A total of 1138 individuals (> 18 years old) were enrolled. The prevalence of anti-HSV-1 IgM and IgG were 20% and 97.5%, respectively. The prevalence of anti-HSV-1 antibodies for IgG was higher in both sexes. Anti-HSV-1 IgM antibodies were present in 17.1%, 21.2%, 12.5%, and 22% of the participants with urinary problems, genital wounds, genital warts, and urethral discharge, respectively. Real-time PCR was used for confirmatory testing; HSV-1 DNA was detected in 25.6% (54/211) of anti-HSV1 IgM-positive samples. Viral loads ranged from 5.99E + 02 to 3.36E + 13. CONCLUSIONS: The seroprevalence of HSV-1 IgM and detection of HSV-1 DNA in the Indigenous population confirmed high silent prevalence. Furthermore, the seroprevalence of HSV-1 in the Indigenous population was higher than that reported in the general adult Brazilian population. Various socioeconomic factors, drug use, and health and sexual behaviors could contribute to the facilitation of HSV-1 transmission in the Indigenous population. Our results may help develop culturally appropriate intervention programs that eliminate health access barriers and improve the implementation of public health policies aimed at promoting information regarding the prevention, treatment, and control of HSV-1 infection in Brazilian Indigenous populations.

Cytomegalovirus in Adenoma and Carcinoma Lesions: Detecting Mono-Infection and Co-Infection in Salivary Glands.

Salivary glands' neoplasms are hard to diagnose and present a complex etiology. However, several viruses have been detected in these neoplasms, such as HCMV, which can play a role in certain cancers through oncomodulation. The co-infections between HCMV with betaherpesviruses (HHV-6 and HHV-7) and polyomaviruses (JCV and BKV) has been investigated. The aim of the current study is to describe the frequency of HCMV and co-infections in patients presenting neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions, including in the salivary gland. Multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used for betaherpesvirus and polyomavirus quantification purposes after DNA extraction. In total, 50.7% of the 67 analyzed samples were mucocele, 40.3% were adenoma pleomorphic, and 8.9% were mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Overall, 20.9% of samples presented triple-infections with HCMV/HHV-6/HHV-7, whereas 9.0% were co-infections with HCMV/HHV-6 and HCMV/HHV-7. The largest number of co-infections was detected in pleomorphic adenoma cases. All samples tested negative for polyomaviruses, such as BKV and JCV. It was possible to conclude that HCMV can be abundant in salivary gland lesions. A high viral load can be useful to help better understand the etiological role played by viruses in these lesions. A lack of JCV and BKV in the samples analyzed herein does not rule out the involvement of these viruses in one or more salivary gland lesion subtypes.

Could Herpesviridae be the cause of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children?

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute hepatitis (SAH) is defined by a severe inflammation of hepatocytes in the liver parenchyma which can lead to an acute liver failure, a clinical condition with high mortality rate that can be triggered by several factors but is usually associated to hepatotropic viruses' infection. In 2022, cases of children with severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin hospitalized in Glasgow, Scotland, were reported. Possible causes of this condition include, but are not limited to, undiagnosed viral (and non-viral) infections, autoimmune hepatitis, drug and/or chemical toxicity, mitochondrial chain respiratory and metabolic disorders. AREAS COVERED: Herpesviruses can cause severe acute hepatitis, but little is known about the role and the mechanisms of herpesviruses as a causative agent of this type of hepatitis. We review the role of herpesviruses as causative agent of SAH in children and other possible mechanisms involved in this disease. EXPERT OPINION: Differential diagnosis for herpesvirus in SAH should be implemented in all settings. Alternative fluids, such as saliva and dried blood, could be used in the diagnosis to overwhelm the availability of biological specimens at sufficient volume. In the future, genetic studies could also be added to increase the knowledge about severe acute hepatitis in children.

Deteção de citomegalovirus, herpesvirus humano 6 e herpesvirus humano 7 em amostras de lesões em glândula salivar parafinadas / Detection of cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus 6 and human herpesvirus 7 in paraffin salivary gland lesion samples

Guimarães Os vírus têm sido considerados como importantes patógenos no desenvolvimento de neoplasias em glândulas salivares, dentre estes, destacam-se os Betaherpesvirus humano como o Citomegalovirus humano (HCMV), Herpesvirus humano 6 (HHV-6) e Herpesvirus humano 7 (HHV-7). Os betaherpesvírus são característicos por apresentarem alta prevalência na população mundial, sem apresentar sazonalidade, capazes de causar infecção latente e reativação viral em seus hospedeiros. Devido a detecção destes vírus em amostras de saliva, tem sido proposto em alguns estudos a ação de betaherpesvírus em algumas patogenias de glândulas salivares, como a formação de patogenias nestes órgãos. Neoplasias em glândulas salivares representam cerca de 3-6% de todas as neoplasias de cabeça e pescoço, com incidência mundial anual de aproximadamente 0,4-13,5% por 100.000 indivíduos. Apesar de haver dados de detecção de betaherpesvírus em neoplasias salivares e em amostras de saliva, ainda existem estudos insuficientes que explorem o papel destes vírus nestas patogenias salivares. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a presença dos Betaherpesvirus humano (HCMV, HHV-6 e HHV-7) em neoplasias de glândula salivar parafinadas. Um ensaio de qPCR foi realizado para amplificação das regiões U54, U56 e U37 do HCMV, HHV-6 e HHV-7, respectivamente para quantificar a carga viral em 68 amostras parafinadas de lesões salivares. Dentre as 68 amostras processadas, 51,4% eram de mucocele (35/68), 39,7% de adenoma pleomórfico (27/68) e 8,8% de carcinoma mucoepidermoóide (6/68). A detecção de betaherpesvírus nestas lesões foi alta, apresentando maior detecção para HCMV com 52,9%, 47,05% para HHV-6 e 39,7% para HHV-7, possuindo predominância de detecção de betaherpesvírus na lesão do tipo adenoma pleomórfico. Foi observado que 50,0% das amostras apresentaram tripla-infecção por HCMV/HHV-6/HHV-7, sendo detectado 20,0% de coinfecções por HCMV/HHV-6, 20,0% de HCMV/HHV-7 e 10,0% de HHV-6/HHV-7, com coinfecções ocorrendo na lesão do tipo adenoma pleomórfico em maior taxa. A alta detecção de HCMV, HHV-6 e HHV-7 em glândulas salivares, indica que este órgão pode ser possível de sítio de replicação destes vírus

The viruses have been considered as important pathogens in the development of neoplasms in salivary glands, between these, Human betaherpesvirus such as Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) stand out. Betaherpesvirus is characteristic because they have a high prevalence in the world population, without presenting seasonality, capable of causing latent infection and viral reactivation in their hosts. Due to the detection of these viruses in saliva samples, the action of betaherpesvirus in some pathogenesis of salivary glands, such as the formation of pathogenesis in these organs, has been proposed in some studies. Salivary gland neoplasms account for about 3-6% of all head and neck neoplasms, with an annual worldwide incidence of approximately 0,4-13,5% per 100,000 individuals. Although there are data for the detection of betaherpesvirus in salivary neoplasms and saliva samples, thereare still insufficient studies exploring the role of these viruses in these salivary pathogeneses. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of human Betaherpesvirus (HCMV, HHV-6 and HHV-7) in paraffin salivary gland neoplasms. A qPCR assay was performed to amplify the U54, U56 and U37 regions of HCMV, HHV-6 and HHV-7, respectively to quantify the viral load in 68 paraffin samples of salivary lesions. Among the 68 samples processed,51,4%were mucocele (35/68), 39.7% pleomorphic adenoma (27/68) and 8,8% mucoepidermoid carcinoma (6/68). The detection of betaherpesvirus in these lesions was high, presenting higher detection for HCMV with 52,9%, 47,05% for HHV6 and 39,7% for HHV-7, with predominance of detection of betaherpesvirus in the lesion of the pleomorphic adenoma type. It was observed that 50.0% of the samples presented triple-infection by HCMV/HHV-6/HHV-7, and 20.0% of co-infections by HCMV/HHV-6, 20.0% of HCMV/HHV-7 and 10.0% of HHV-6/HHV-7 were detected, with co-infections occurring with higher predominance of pleomorphic adenoma lesion. The high detection of HCMV, HHV-6 and HHV-7 in salivary glands indicates that this organ may be possible from replication site.