Cytokine response and polymerase chain reaction study of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in infants with human cytomegalovirus infection

Abstract

We tried to detect human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA in CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes from fourteen infants with HCMV hepatitis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. HCMV was isolated from their urine and anti-HCMV IgM antibody was detected in their sera. One set of primers were designed from a region--a major immediate early (IE) gene. We detected HCMV IE DNA in the specimens obtained from six infants. HCMV IE DNA was detected from CD4+ cells in two cases and from CD8+ cells in one. In three cases, HCMV IE DNA was detected from both CD4+ and CD8+ cells. We also studied the relationship between HCMV infection and serum levels of cytokines. We determined serum levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) which were associated with the activation of T lymphocytes by enzyme immunoassay. In the acute phase of HCMV infection, titers of sIL-2R were correlated with serum levels of liver enzymes in some cases. IL-4 and TNF-alpha activities were not detected in sera. It is likely that expression of viral genome on T lymphocytes as well as activities of some cytokines are associated with active HCMV infection.