Background: Xerostomia is a very relevant and frequent complication of radiotherapy, causing the irradiated oral mucosa to be affected by bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between oral shedding of human herpesviruses and xerostomia in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck submitted to radio/chemotherapy. Methods: In this study, oral rinse samples were collected weekly from 20 patients during radiotherapy. The samples were submitted to PCR and enzymatic digestion for detection of human herpesviruses. Xerostomia was evaluated according to the Seminars in Radiation Oncology criteria. Results: There was a higher frequency of grade 1 xerostomia (51.4%), observed first in the 1st week of radiotherapy. In the 4th week of radiotherapy, all patients presented some degree of xerostomia. Analysis of herpesviruses showed oral shedding of EBV, HHV-6 and HHV-7 in all weeks. Considering all the periods, the highest frequency was in patients with EBV excretion (55.0%), which was significantly higher than that of other viruses. Conclusion: We observed that oral shedding of herpesviruses was not affected by xerostomia as there was a progression in their excretion, even with the evolution of xerostomia. This suggested that there is a local replication in the oral cavity that is not completely dependent of salivary excretion.

中文翻译：

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对头颈部鳞状细胞癌进行放射疗法/化学疗法的患者口服人类疱疹病毒不受口干症的影响。

背景：口干燥症是放疗的一个非常相关且频繁的并发症，它导致口腔粘膜受细菌，真菌和病毒感染的影响。目的：本研究的目的是评估接受放射/化学疗法治疗的头颈部鳞状细胞癌患者中人类疱疹病毒的口腔脱落与口干症之间的可能关系。方法：在这项研究中，每周在放疗期间从20例患者中收集口腔冲洗样品。将样品进行PCR和酶消化以检测人疱疹病毒。根据放射肿瘤学研讨会标准评估口干症。结果：在放射治疗的第一周首次观察到发生1级口腔干燥的频率更高（51.4％）。在放疗的第4周，所有患者均出现一定程度的口干症。疱疹病毒的分析显示，在整个星期中，口服的EBV，HHV-6和HHV-7脱落。考虑到所有时期，EBV排泄患者出现频率最高（55.0％），明显高于其他病毒。结论：我们观察到，疱疹病毒的口腔脱落不受口腔干燥症的影响，因为即使其发生干燥，其排泄也有进展。这表明口腔中存在局部复制，并不完全依赖唾液排泄。结论：我们观察到，疱疹病毒的口腔脱落不受口干症的影响，因为即使其发生干燥，其排泄也有进展。这表明口腔中存在局部复制，并不完全依赖唾液排泄。结论：我们观察到，疱疹病毒的口腔脱落不受口干症的影响，因为即使其发生干燥，其排泄也有进展。这表明口腔中存在局部复制，并不完全依赖唾液排泄。