Coexistence of Cytomegalovirus in Serum of Patients Suffering from Leukemia

Leukemia begins with the destruction of hematopoietic bone marrow cells, and appears with the turmoil in the blood (immature blood cell proliferation, homeostasis disorder, degrees of inflammation, mutation, immunodeficiency, antioxidant deficiency, and infectious agents). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) as the largest member of the herpes family can cause latent infections for lifetime. Due to its high numbers in Iran, we decided to measure the level of CMV in leukemia by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, to quantify its prevalence.

100 blood serum samples of people with leukemia and 100 healthy controls were collected from hospitals in Tehran City, Iran, and DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method. </em>PCR test of CMV was optimized and evaluated for specificity and limit of detection (LOD). Optimized test was performed on all patient and healthy samples along with positive and negative controls. The PCR product was identified by agarose gel electrophoresis.

PCR test was optimized, and 257 bp product was observed in agarose gel electrophoresis. In specificity test, no product other than the CMV sample was observed. LOD was 100 copy/reaction. All healthy controls were negative, and 33% of the samples were CMV positive.

This study shows that CMV can be considered as an infectious and influencing factor in leukemia.