Abstract

Human lymphotropic herpesvirus is known to be a major pathogen associated with various diseases in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) recipients. A multiplex nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed for the simultaneous detection of human lymphotropic herpesviruses, including Ebstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and human herpesvirus 6 variants A and B (HHV6-A, HHV6-B). To demonstrate the usefulness of multiplex PCR for the analysis of clinical samples, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum from BMT recipients were analysed. The results showed that a clear detection could be made between EBV, HCMV and HHV-6. This multiplex PCR assay is an efficient and cost-effective approach to the analysis of large numbers of samples to determine the epidemiological importance of EBV, HCMV and HHV-6.

• Keywords: multiplex nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR); human lymphotropic herpesvirus; bone mar-row trans