Abstract

BACKGROUND: The previous studies showed that herpes human virus-6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 exist in salivary glands. One of the important areas in oral and maxillofacial pathology field is tumors of the salivary glands. In this study, to declare the major sites of persistent infection with HHV-6 and HHV-7, the existence of HHV-6 and HHV-7 genomes in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples of salivary gland tumors. METHODS: This analytical study was performed in 60 paraffin blocks samples of malignant and benign neoplasms of both major and minor salivary glands. This study performed with highly sensitive real time PCR method. RESULTS: Among 60 paraffin blocks salivary gland tumors with equal chances of presence of the HHV-7 and HHV-6 in the samples, 34 were positive for both HHV-7 and HHV-6 while 47.2 were only positive for HHV-7, 18.9 samples were positive for HHV-6. A relationship was noticed between HHV-7 and HHV-6 genomes. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study showed no relation between virus and diseases with P=0.953. Also it could be inferred that there is a relationship between HHV-6 and 7 in salivary glands neoplasms.