CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF A
FQ-PCR TECHNIQUE FOR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION
IN CHILDREN
Chen Fenhua, He Zhengxian,
Wang Qingwen, et al.
Department
of Pediatrics, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University of
Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Objective: A fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR) assay was evaluated to
detect HCMV DNA copy numbers in peripheral blood leukocytes and compared
with ordinary PCR and ELISA to monitor HCMV infective status, effectiveness of antiviral
therapy and relationship between viral
load values and severity of HCMV disease.
Methods: 45 cases of suspected HCMV infected children were
detected by PCR, ELISA and FQ-PCR respectively. 25 HCMV hepatitis from the 45 were randomly assigned to a
treated group or a controlled group. Both the two groups were checked by
FQ-PCR at being admitted to hospital, leaving hospital, and third, sixth,
and ninth month after leaving hospital.
Results: The positive detectable
rates of PCR, ELISA and FQ-PCR were 60.00%, 33.33% and 66.67%, and their
sensitivities were 84.38%, 46.88% and 93.75%. It showed a significant
difference in viral copy numbers between the two groups at the five stages
(P<0.001).
The viral load of the treated group fell to 103 copies/ml at
second stage while that of the controlled group fell to the same level
after third stage. The testing results of 135 person-times indicated that
103 copies/ml of FQ-PCR can be taken as a symptomatic predictive
critical value for prediction of active HCMV infection.
Conclusion: FQ-PCR is one of the
effective methods for diagnosis of HCMV infective disease, it can offer a
key index in diagnosis of HCMV active infection, dynamic detection of HCMV
viral load can play a crucial role not only in monitoring antiviral
therapy, but also in evaluating the development and prognosis of HCMV
disease.