title: Restriction enzyme analysis of the human cytomegalovirus genome in specimens collected from immunodeficient patients in Belém, State of Pará, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human cytomegalovirus is an opportunistic betaherpesvirus that causes persistent and serious infections in immunodeficient patients. Recurrent infections occur due to the presence of the virus in a latent state in some cell types. It is possible to examine the virus using molecular methods to aid in the immunological diagnosis and to generate a molecular viral profile in immunodeficient patients. The objective of this study was to characterize cytomegalovirus genotypes and to generate the epidemiological and molecular viral profile in immunodeficient patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 105 samples were collected from immunodeficient patients from the City of Belém, including newborns, hemodialysis patients, transplant recipients and HIV+ patients. An IgG and IgM antibody study was completed using ELISA, and enzymatic analysis by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was performed to characterize viral genotypes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was observed that 100% of the patients had IgG antibodies, 87% of which were IgG+/IgM-, consistent with a prior infection profile, 13% were IgG+/IgM+, suggestive of recent infection. The newborn group had the highest frequency (27%) of the IgG+/IgM+ profile. By RFLP analysis, only one genotype was observed, gB2, which corresponded to the standard AD169 strain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of IgM antibodies in new borns indicates that HCMV continues to be an important cause of congenital infection. The low observed genotypic diversity could be attributed to the small sample size because newborns were excluded from the RFLP analysis. This study will be continued including samples from newborns to extend the knowledge of the general and molecular epidemiology of HCMV in immunodeficient patients.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Evandro Chagas, Secretaria de Vigilância Sanitária, Ministério da Saúde, Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. dorotealobato@iec.pa.gov.br
authors.forename: Dorotéa Lobato da
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Renato Lopes Fernandes de
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.forename: Marluce Matos de
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.forename: Fernanda Sagicado Espírito
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Santo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D003956:Dialysis; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D015183:Restriction Mapping / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M