RETURNYonago Acta medica 1991;34:249-260
PCR Detection of Human Cytomegalovirus Reactivated in Patients with Chronic Lung Disease under Prolonged Steroid Therapy
Hidemi Teramoto, Toshio Kamahora*, Chia Yuan Chang, Yuji Sugimoto, Yukio Matsumoto and Takao Sasaki
Third Department of Internal Medicine and *Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683, Japan
We applied single and double polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) to verify the reactivation of latent cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in immunocompromised hosts. Samples included peripheral blood, urine and sputum obtained from 5 patients with chronic lung diseases treated by steroids and 5 healthy individuals. The single and double PCRs detected 400 and 4 molecules of HCMV deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) per reaction, respectively. The basal level of HCMV DNA in healthy adults was first analyzed by the single PCR: all the samples obtained from normal individuals were exclusively negative. In the double PCR, the 5/5 plasma and 4/5 peripheral mononuclear cell samples were still negative, but the 5/5 urinary samples were positive. Profiles obtained by the samples of the patients were significantly different. While only the 0/5 urinary, 1/5 peripheral mononuclear cell, 2/5 plasma and 5/5 sputum samples were positive by the single PCR, all samples were positive by the double PCR. The results suggested the specific reactivation of HCMV in the lungs of patients under prolonged steroid therapy, and that the PCR of sputum could be a useful diagnostic measure to the local reactivation of HCMV.
Key words: chronic lung disease; human cytomegalovirus; polymerase chain reaction; steroid therapy