Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 149, No. 2, Feb 1994, 495-499.
Evaluation of human cytomegalovirus latency in alveolar macrophages
A Fajac, M Vidaud, F Lebargy, F Stephan, S Ricci, P Geslin, M Goossens and JF Bernaudin
Inserm Unit 139, Hopital Henri Mondor, Creteil, France.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia is a major cause of illness in
immunocompromised patients. The sites of human CMV (HCMV) latency are still
not clearly defined. The present study was therefore designed to
investigate the hypothesis that alveolar macrophages could constitute such
a site. DNA extracted from alveolar cells collected by bronchoalveolar
lavage and blood mononuclear cells (BMC) from asymptomatic
nonimmunocompromised CMV-seropositive and CMV-seronegative patients were
investigated. Controls consisted of DNA from a CMV- infected MRC5 cell
line, BMC and alveolar macrophages from patients with acute CMV infection.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was designed for detection of a 290-bp
fragment of the promoter region of the major immediate early gene of HCMV
conserved within the various HCMV strains and without homology with the
human genome. The limit of detection of the method was evaluated to be one
HCMV viral copy per 10(4) cells. HCMV DNA was detected in BMC or alveolar
cells of all patients with acute CMV infection. In contrast, no HCMV DNA
was detected in alveolar cells and BMC from nonimmunocompromised
asymptomatic HCMV-seropositive patients. In conclusion, in the present
experiment, no latent HCMV could be detected in alveolar cells collected in
nonimmunocompromised asymptomatic CMV-seropositive patients.
