Frequency of Cytomegalovirus Viral Load in Iranian Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1-Infected Patients with CD4+ Counts <100 Cells/mm3.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of present work was to assess cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia in Iranian human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-infected patients with a CD4+ count <100 cells/mm3 and to explore whether CMV DNA loads correlate with CD4+ cell counts or associated retinitis.


METHODS
This study was conducted at the AIDS research center in Iran on HIV-1-infected patients with CD4+ count <100 cells/mm3, antiretroviral therapy-naive, aged ≥18 years with no previous history of CMV end-organ disease (CMV-EOD).


RESULTS
Thirty-nine of 82 patients (47.56%) had detectable CMV viral load ranging from 66 to 485,500 IU/mL. CMV viral load in patients with retinitis ranges from 352 to 2,720 IU/mL, and it was undetectable in 2 patients. No significant associations between CMV viremia and CD4+ cell count was found (p value = 0.31), whereas significant association of CMV viremia in HIV-infected patients with retinitis was found (p < 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
We estimated the frequency of CMV viral load infection in Iranian HIV-1-infected patients with a CD4+ cell count <100 mm3/mL in the largest national referral center for HIV-1 infection in Iran. Further research is required on the relevance of CMV viral load in diagnostic and prognostic value of CMV-EOD.
['Jabbari|Mohammad Reza|MR|', 'Soleimanjahi|Hoorieh|H|', 'Shatizadeh Malekshahi|Somayeh|S|', 'Gholami|Mohammad|M|', 'Sadeghi|Leila|L|', 'Mohraz|Minoo|M|']
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count D003587:Cytomegalovirus D015658:HIV Infections D015497:HIV-1 D006801:Humans D007492:Iran D019562:Viral Load
Viral load Retinitis Cytomegalovirus infection Epidemiology Human immunodeficiency virus-1 Virology