Infection and Endometrial Gene Expression: HHV-6 and Infertility

Pathogens represent a tremendous burden on the reproductive fitness of humans, tailoring variations in endometrial immune cells. As such, the immune phenotypes of endometrial immune cells can have a profound effect on how an infectious pathogen might reduce the reproductive fitness of individuals in a population. HHV-6 is a betaherpesvirus that exists as two closely related variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B. Recently, HHV-6 infection of the female genital tract has been implicated in pregnancy-related diseases. In particular, the presence of HHV-6 infection of the endometrial epithelial cells seems to be associated with female idiopathic infertility, causing a specific modification of gene expression in both endometrium and endometrial natural killer cells.