Relationship of human herpes virus 6 and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Infection with human herpes viruses has been suggested to contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), while interaction between human herpes 6 (HHV6) and MS remain unclear yet. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis on the relationship of HHV6 infection and MS. All related studies were collected from major databases. The analyses were performed by STATA 14 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2.0 softwares. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95%CIs were calculated from the raw data of the including studies by the random effects models when I2 > 50% and fix model when I2 < 50%. Thirty nine studies were included in the meta-analysis that 34 studies used molecular assays and 7 studies used serological assays for diagnosis of HHV6 infected cases. The relationship of HHV6 and MS was significant in healthy control group by yielding a summary OR of (2.23 [1.5-3.3], p = 0.06). A significant HHV6 association with MS were in the studies with >6 score that used serum/blood sample with OR of (6.7 [95%CI 4.8-8.6], p < 0.00001) and in serological studies, IgM positive titer in other neurological diseases (OND) control group was significant with OR of (8.3 [95%CI 3-24.07], p < 0.00001). This study has been showed that there were significant relationship between MS and HHV6 infection.