[Selection of primers and their use in the polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing infections caused by herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus].

The authors present the results of studies on the construction of highly sensitive primers for rapid diagnosis of infections caused by Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus. An oligonucleotide primer to HSV-1 is described, which permits detection of HSV-1 DNA in infected cultures and in clinical material in dilution 10(-7), whereas the "universal" primer constructed on the basis of published data detects both HSV-1 and HSV-2 only in dilution 10(-4). Study of the clinical material in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) vs. virus isolation in infected cell cultures permitted us assess the diagnostic value of this reaction with the constructed primers as high. Use of two pairs of primers (those designed to HSV-1 and the "universal") permitted a differential diagnosis in the PCR between HSV-1 and HSV-2 in clinical material. Highly specific oligonucleotide primers were designed for the rapid diagnosis of cytomegaloviral infection, and clinical material was investigated making use of these primers.