DETECTION AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR IMMEDIATE-EARLY AND PP150 GENE OF LATENT HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS IN SPLEEN, LIVER, AND KIDNEY TISSUES OF TRAUMA VICTIMS

The presence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA in liver, spleen, and kidney samples of HCMV-seropositive trauma victims during latency was demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using primers reacti ve with the major immediate early gene exon 4 and the structural gene pp150. Sequence analysis of the PCR amplificates showed more than 95% homology with the reference HCMV strain AD169. The few mutations obser ved were mostly distributed randomly. In one subject two types of the MIE-4 gene were detected, and in another subject two types of the pp15 0 gene were found, suggesting that different strains of HCMV can be fo und in organs of the same patient during latency. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.