title: Quantitation of 8 human herpesviruses in peripheral blood of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients and healthy blood donors by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Human herpesviruses are associated with morbidity and mortality in persons with compromised immune systems, including patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To investigate the basis for this association, the levels of all 8 human herpesviruses (herpes simplex virus, types 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and human herpesvirus 6, human herpesvirus 7, and human herpesvirus 8) were measured with the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Viral DNA was measured in the whole blood of 20 HIV-infected patients and compared with levels in 20 healthy blood donors. There was no significant difference in the frequency of virus detection of the 8 human herpesviruses between HIV-infected patients and healthy adults. These results indicate that HIV infection is not associated with a general increase in the circulating levels of human herpesviruses, and suggest that quantitative PCR analysis is superior to qualitative PCR analysis for detection of clinically relevant disease in HIV-infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235-9072, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scheuermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D001782:Blood Donors; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral