Human cytomegalovirus infection in tumor specimens of Iranian patients with glioma

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes persistent infection in humans and severe diseases in fetus and immunocompromised individuals. Although HCMV is not currently implicated in human cancer, emerging evidence suggests that HCMV infection might be specifically associated with some human malignancies including glioma. Glioma is one of the most common brain tumors affecting children and adults. In this study, we used Real-Time (RT) PCR and immunohistochemistry techniques for detection of HCMV infection in glioma brain tumor biopsies. Paraffin embedded tumor tissues were obtained from patients who had been diagnosed with glioma. After designing of specific primers for the HCMV US28 region, a RT-PCR method was developed for HCMV DNA detection. Immunohistochemistry was performed on the same samples by using monoclonal antibodies specific for immediate earlyprotein (IE)-72 and IE 86 protein of HCMV. The results of RT-PCR on 4 of 18 patients (22/2 %) were positive. Two of the patients with HCMV positive RT-PCR results, passed away. Seven patients (38.8%) were positive with the IHC assay. It was also shown that in patients with higher grade of glioma, higher level of positive cells was observed using IE72 and IE 86 antibodies. Considering the results and controversies associated with reports from other regions of the world, a more comprehensive study using this and other diagnostic methods are suggested in Iranian patients with glioma.