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. 2016 Jun;22(3):400-2.
doi: 10.1007/s13365-016-0425-8. Epub 2016 Feb 3.

Frequency of varicella zoster virus DNA in human adrenal glands

Hussain Badani  1 , Teresa White  1 , Nicole Schulick  1 , Christopher D Raeburn  2 , Ibrahim Topkaya  1 , Don Gilden  1   3 , Maria A Nagel  4
Affiliations

Frequency of varicella zoster virus DNA in human adrenal glands

Hussain Badani et al. J Neurovirol. 2016 Jun.

Erratum in

Abstract

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) becomes latent in ganglionic neurons derived from neural crest cells. Because the adrenal gland also contains medullary chromaffin cells of neural crest origin, we examined human adrenal glands and medullary chromaffin cell tumors (pheochromocytomas) for VZV and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). We found VZV, but not HSV-1, DNA in 4/63 (6 %) normal adrenal glands. No VZV transcripts or antigens were detected in the 4 VZV DNA-positive samples. No VZV or HSV-1 DNA was found in 21 pheochromocytomas.

Keywords: Adrenal gland; Latency; Pheochromocytoma; VZV.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Viral DNA load in normal human adrenal glands. Of 63 normal human adrenal glands, 4 contained VZV DNA. The VZV DNA copy number was 1339, 44, 35, and 6 per microgram total DNA, respectively
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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