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Abstract

Background

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) retinitis frequently occurs in severely naturally and iatrogenically immunocompromised patients. It has been shown that the immune-privileged retina is a major site of HCMV infection in AIDS patients. It is conceivable either that during the immunosuppression HCMV infection reactivates in various other organs viremically affecting the retina or that HCMV persisting in the retina may locally reactivate and result in HCMV retinitis.

Methods

As there is still controversy about the sites of HCMV latency and persistence we investigated 75 eyes of HIV-seronegative patients undergoing enucleation due to a variety of malignant and non-viral benign ophthalmic disorders for the retinal presence of HCMV antigen and DNA.

Results

None of the analyzed patients had symptoms of HCMV retinitis. Immunohistologic staining as well as TaqMan DNA PCR analysis showed all samples to be free of HCMV.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that the human eye is rather unlikely to be a site of productive or latent HCMV persistence.

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Fig. 1

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by “Hilfe für krebskranke Kinder Frankfurt e.V.” and by the foundation “Frankfurter Stiftung für krebskranke Kinder.” The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to C. Elbers, C. Gross and N. Schatz for their skillful technical assistance.

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Correspondence to Jens-Uwe Vogel.

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Vogel, JU., Fleckenstein, C., Wagner, M. et al. The human eye (retina): a site of persistent HCMV infection?. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 243, 671–676 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-004-0965-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-004-0965-0

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