Comparison of Quantitation of Cytomegalovirus DNA by Real-Time PCR in Whole Blood with the Cytomegalovirus Antigenemia Assay

摘要

Background: Quantitation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA using real-time PCR has been utilized for monitoring CMV infection. However, the CMV antigenemia assay is still the ‘gold standard’ assay. There are only a few studies in Korea that compared the efficacy of use of real-time PCR for quantitation of CMV DNA in whole blood with the antigenemia assay, and most of these studies have been limited to transplant recipients. Method: 479 whole blood samples from 79 patients, falling under different disease groups, were tested by real-time CMV DNA PCR using the Q-CMV real-time complete kit (Nanogen Advanced Diagnostic S.r.L., Italy) and CMV antigenemia assay (CINA Kit, ArgeneBiosoft, France), and the results were compared. Repeatedly tested patients were selected and their charts were reviewed for ganciclovir therapy. Results: The concordance rate of the two assays was 86.4% (Cohen’s kappa coefficient value=0.659). Quantitative correlation between the two assays was a moderate (r=0.5504, P Conclusions: Q-CMV real-time complete kit is a useful tool for early detection of CMV infection in whole blood samples in transplant recipients.