Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Detect the mRNA and the proteins expression of human herpes viruses 6 (HHV-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor C(VEGF-C) in normal oral tissues and oral squamous cell carcinomas, To investigate the relationship between the expression levels and the development of oral squamous cell carcinomas. Moreover, discuss the correlation of HHV-6 infection and expression levels of VEGF-C. METHODS: The expression levels of HHV-6 and VEGF-C mRNA in oral squamous cell carcinomas were quantified by real-time PCR, as well as the protein levels were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The expression levels of HHV-6 and VEGF-C mRNA in oral squamous cell carcinomas were significantly higher than normal oral tissues, so does their protein (P＜0.05).The mRNA expression levels have a significant positive correlation between HHV-6 and VEGF-C in the same oral squamous cell carcinomas ( P＜0.001). The expression levels of HHV-6 and VEGF-C in the oral squamous cell carcinomas has significantly correlation with lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of oral squamous carcinoma is associated with the infection of HHV-6, and it’s infection may cause the high expression of VEGF-C.

Key words: Human herpes viruses 6, vascular endothelial growth factor C, Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Real-time PCR, Correlation