Evaluation of the association between human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Zahra  Darvish Molla; Saeed Kalbasi; Shirin Kalantari; Farahnaz Bidari Zerehpoosh; Mohammad Shayestehpour; Shaghayegh Yazdani

doi:10.18502/ijm.v14i4.10243

Zahra Darvish Molla Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Saeed Kalbasi Department of Internal Medicine, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Shirin Kalantari Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Farahnaz Bidari Zerehpoosh Department of Pathology, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Shayestehpour Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Shaghayegh Yazdani Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v14i4.10243

Keywords: Hashimoto disease; Autoimmune diseases; Herpesvirus 6; Polymerase chain reaction

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a chronic inflammation and an autoimmune disease of the thyroid gland that causes hypothyroidism. Genetic, internal, and environmental factors are the causes of this disease. Because human herpes viruses such as herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) are involved in some autoimmune disorders, they may also play a role in causing this disease. This study aimed to evaluate the association between human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Materials and Methods: In the present study, 64 samples of thyroid paraffin tissue including 32 samples of thyroid paraffin tissue of healthy individuals as control, and 32 samples of thyroid paraffin tissue of Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients were taken from the pathology department of Loghman Hakim Hospital in Tehran. A questionnaire collected demographic infor- mation of patients. After DNA extraction from the samples, the nested-PCR technique was performed using specific primers for HHV-6.

Results: Totally, the HHV6-DNA was found in 34.4% of thyroid tissues of healthy individuals (81.8% female and 18.2% male) and 46.9% of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (73.3% female and 26.7% male). It was found that this difference in virus frequency between the two groups was not statistically significant (P value=0.309). There was also no statistically significant relationship between the prevalence of human herpesvirus type 6 and age or sex.

Conclusion: Based on the present study, the number of HHV-6-infected individuals in Hashimoto's patients and controls did not differ significantly; therefore, HHV-6 appears not to be associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.