DETECTION OF HUMAN BETAHERPESVIRINAE IN SALIVA AND URINE FROM IMMUNOCOMPROMISED AND IMMUNOCOMPETENT SUBJECTS

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a well-known opportunistic agent that reactivates in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive subject s. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 were discovered recently and, like HCMV, belong to the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily. We looked for t he presence of HCMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7 by PCR with saliva and urine sam ples from 125 HIV-seropositive patients at different stages of HIV inf ection and with saliva and urine samples from 29 HIV-seronegative subj ects. All three viruses were frequently detected in the saliva (overal l rates of detection, 61, 43, and 63% for HCMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7, resp ectively) with no correlation with the stage of immune deficiency. In contrast, HCMV was detected in urine much more frequently than the two other herpesviruses (overall rates of detection, 37, 2, and 6.5% for HCMV, HHV-6, and HHV-7, respectively) and was associated with immune d eficiency. This suggests that these three genetically related viruses differ from each other with regard to replication in the urinary tract .