Abstract:

[Abstract] Objective   Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can induce infection in multiple organs, including genitouri?
nary system, central nervous system and liver. It can even lead to serious defects and death. China, as a high-incidence area of HCMV, need employ early treatment. However, the sensitivity of present HCMV diagnosis is not satisfied.Methods   In the present study, we focused on transcription level of HCMV IE and pp67mRNA using real- time quantitative PCR. Results   IEmRNA was positive even in a portion of patients who were regarded as negative by traditional DNA diagnosis method. On the other hand, pp67mRNA that were normally expressed at the late stage of HCMV infection was100% posi?tive in the first-visit patients who were regarded as positive using traditional DNA diagnosis method. Conclusion   The pres?ent study indicated that mRNA detection based on PCR method was more sensitive compared with DNA detection for assess?ing HCMV virus infection. Finally, different treatment should be performed upon mRNA transcription profile at different in?fection stages

Key words: cytomegalovirus, infant, newborn, IE mRNA, pp67mRNA, virus identification