Abstract
The complexity of autoimmunity initiation has been the subject of many studies. Both genetic and environmental factors are essential in autoimmunity development. Among others, environmental factors include infectious agents. HHV-6 is a ubiquitous human pathogen with a high global prevalence. It has several properties suggestive of its contribution to autoimmunity development. HHV-6 has a broad cell tropism, the ability to establish latency with subsequent reactivation and persistence, and a range of immunomodulation capabilities. Studies have implicated HHV-6 in a plethora of autoimmune diseases-endocrine, neurological, connective tissue, and others-with some studies even proposing possible autoimmunity induction mechanisms. HHV-6 can be frequently found in autoimmunity-affected tissues and lesions; it has been found to infect autoimmune-pathology-relevant cells and influence immune responses and signaling. This review highlights some of the most well-known autoimmune conditions to which HHV-6 has been linked, like multiple sclerosis and autoimmune thyroiditis, and summarizes the data on HHV-6 involvement in autoimmunity development.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 362 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-18 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Microorganisms |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Feb 2024 |
Keywords*
- HHV-6
- human herpesvirus 6
- autoimmunity
- autoimmune disease
- multiple sclerosis
- systemic sclerosis
- inflammatory bowel disease
- autoimmune thyroiditis
- chronic fatigue syndrome
Field of Science*
- 3.3 Health sciences
- 3.1 Basic medicine
Publication Type*
- 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database
