determination of cytomegalovirus prevalence and glycoprotein b genotypes among ulcerative colitis patients in ahvaz, iran

Background: the human cytomegalovirus (hcmv) is a common pathogen which usually remains asymptomatic in the healthy adults; however, it can cause a symptomatic disease in the immunocompromised patients. the risk of infection with hcmv increases in ulcerative colitis (uc) patients as a result of receiving immunosuppressive agents.objectives: this study aimed to determine the prevalence and the glycoprotein b genotypes of hcmv among the patients with hcmv disease superimposed on an uc flare that required hospitalization in imam khomeini hospital in ahvaz, iran, during 2010- 2012. patients and methods: in this case-control study, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded intestinal tissue samples were taken from 98 patients with uc disease including 53 males and 45 females (mean age ± standard deviation, 38.95 ± 17.93) and 67 control patients with noninflammatory disease who were referred to imam khomeini hospital during 2010-2012. detection of hcmv genome in intestinal samples was carried out by seminested polymerase chain reaction. glycoprotein b genotypes were determined by sequencing. results: among 98 patients with uc, only 12 (12.2%) patients were positive for hcmv genome, while the hcmv genome was not detected in any of the controls. (p = 0.002). the distribution of hcmv gb genotypes in 12 cmv-positive uc patients was as follow: gb1, 11 (91.7%) and gb3, 1 (8.3%). the most prevalent genotype in cmv-positive uc patients was gb1. conclusions: in this study, high prevalence of 91.7% hcmv gb1 genotype was predominant among hcmv-positive uc patients, which suggests that there might be an association between hcmv gb genotype 1 and uc disease.