Quantitative competitive PCR test for monitoring cytomegalovirus infectionand antiviral therapy

To quantitate DNA of human cytomegalovirus (CMV), a test was elaborated on the basis of two-round PCR with a standard competitor and four primers and detection of the amplified products in PAG stained with ethidium bromide. T he test proved highly sensitive and allowed detection of 1-2 CMV genome equ ivalents per sample. The amplicon with a 40-nt internal deletion was cloned in pTZ19R and used as a competitor. The competition between the natural an d deletion amplicons was analyzed in a broad range of their concentrations. The test was examined with blood specimens from recipients; of transplante d organs.