Comparison of Qualitative PCR and pp۶۵ Antigenemia for the Diagnosis of CMV Infection in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplanted Patients

Objectives: Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major life-threatening pathogen for hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Specific tests are used for the diagnosis and monitoring of CMV infection in transplant patients. This study evaluates the performance of pp۶۵ antigenemia and qualitative PCR assays for monitoring CMV in such patients. Methods: We analyzed ۱۷۹ clinical samples from ۴۱ patients by using a validated home-brewed qualitative PCR and a commercial antigenemia assay. The obtained results were evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR as the gold standard. Results: CMV was observed in ۲۶.۸% of samples analyzed by the antigenemia assay and in ۴۲.۶% of the samples by qualitative PCR. Among ۱۷۹ clinical samples, ۵۰.۸% were negative and ۲۱.۲% were positive by both assays. On the other hand, ۲۶.۳% were only positive by qualitative PCR whereas ۱.۷% were positive by the antigenemia assay. A comparison of the results with real-time PCR showed that qualitative PCR has a higher sensitivity than the antigenemia assay (۹۸.۷% vs. ۴۵.۷%). The specificity of both assays was equal (۹۶.۸%). Quantitative results of the antigenemia assay showed good correlation with real-time PCR (r=۰.۷۱۵; p<۰.۰۰۱). Conclusion: Both the qualitative PCR and antigenemia assays have special deficiencies for efficient diagnosis of CMV infection. Therefore, effective management of CMV infection in transplant patients requires the use of other sensitive quantitative methods such as qPCR.

کلیدواژه ها:

PCR ، Real-Time PCR ، pp۶۴ ، PCR ، Real-Time PCR ، Antigenemia ، Cytomegalovirus ، pp۶۵ ، ویروس سیتومگال ، آنتی ژنمی