Clinical characteristics and gB genotype of cytomegalovirus infection in Japan.

To investigate the role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) gB genotypes, we examined the relationship between gB genotypes and clinical features in 19 patients with CMV infection. We analyzed 9 immunocompetent patients (1A) and 5 patients (1B) with various basic disorders in the symptomatic group. Five patients were enrolled in the asymptomatic group (2). To investigate gB genotypes, PCR was performed with oligonucleotide primers using clinical specimens and PCR products were digested with HinfI and RsaI We determined the PCR genotype by using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis patterns. In the symptomatic group (1A and 1B), all clinical specimens were identified as gB genotype 1. In the asymptomatic group (2), only 2 specimens were identified as gB genotype 3. The distribution of CMV gB genotypes in clinical specimens was as follows: gB 1-17 out of 19 (89.5%) and gB 3-2 out of 19 (10.5%). Our data revealed that gB genotype 3 CMV did not show symptomatic infection.