GLYCOPROTEIN-B GENOTYPE CORRELATES WITH CELL TROPISM IN-VIVO OF HUMANCYTOMEGALOVIRUS-INFECTION

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains can be classified into four genot ypes of the glycoprotein B (gB). In a previous study, the gB genotype 1 was found more frequently in bone marrow transplant recipients with nonfatal HCMV infection than in patients who died from HCMV disease [F ries et al. (1994): Journal of Infectious Diseases 169:769-774]. The d istribution and cell tropism of different gB types in vivo were invest igated. The gB type of HCMV was determined in blood or urine specimen from 76 organ and 47 bone marrow transplant recipients using PCR and r estriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The leukocyte populati ons (polymorphonuclear leukocytes, monocytes, T lymphocytes, non-T lym phocytes) of 20 viremic patients were purified by a fluorescence-activ ated cell sorter (FACS) and examined for HCMV infection by PCR. Sequen ce analysis of four randomly selected strains showed that gB types wer e similar to published sequences and no atypical gB types were found. Within the compartments blood and urine, the gB types were almost equa lly distributed, whereas the gB type 1, in contrast to gB types 2 and 3, did not infect T lymphocytes in vivo. These data show that the gB t ype correlates with viral tropism in vivo and th us provides further e vidence that the gB variation may indeed influence the virulence of HC MV. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.