Detecting human cytomegalovirus drug resistant mutations and monitoring the emergence of resistant strains using real-time PCR.

Background: Antiviral resistance development is a serious complication of human cytomegalovirus virostatic therapy caused by mutations in UL 97 and/or UL54 genes.

Objectives: To determinate the presence of sensitive and resistant strains in patients developing antiviral resistance.

Study Design: We used three different molecular biological methods for mutation analysis-restriction fragment length polymorphism, sequencing and real-time PCR approach.

[RNA interference and molecular pathology of selected diseases].

Since many people all around the world are suffering from genetic disorders, modern therapeutic approaches are focused on the search of new pharmaceutical products. These products will be able to act on the gene level, more accurately on the nucleotide sequences themselves. RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionary conserved process that is caused by double stranded RNA (dsRNA).

Cytomegalovirus encephalitis/retinitis in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient treated successfully with combination of cidofovir and foscarnet.

We report an 18-yr-old female patient with repeated CMV reactivations after HSCT treated by several pre-emptive courses of virostatic therapy. Seven months after HSCT, she developed CMV encephalitis/retinitis. Initial therapy with GCV and hyperimmune globulin failed, and later on GCV-resistant strain was detected.

[Comparison of four methods for efficient isolation of Aspergillus DNA from peripheral blood samples].

Aim Of The Study: The main goal of this study was to find the best method for Aspergillus DNA isolation from peripheral blood samples. The method should be very effective but not expensive or time consuming to be suitable for routine diagnostics use.

Material And Methods: We compared four different methods for Aspergillus DNA isolation - one method with enzymatic lysis of the fungal cell wall and three methods that combine chemical and mechanical lysis (using high speed cell disruption with glass beads).