Open AccessDetection of Human Cytomegalovirus in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid of Lung Transplant Recipients Reflects Local Virus Replication and Not Contamination from the Throat
Author(s) -
Heidrun Kerschner,
Péter Jaksch,
B. Zweytick,
Elisabeth PuchhammerStöckl
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.01197-10
Subject(s) - bronchoalveolar lavage , cytomegalovirus , throat , virus , virology , lung , human cytomegalovirus , betaherpesvirinae , immunology , medicine , lung transplantation , pathology , biology , herpesviridae , microbiology and biotechnology , viral disease , anatomy
Whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid may be contaminated with oropharyngeal cytomegalovirus (CMV) has never been investigated. In an analysis of CMV DNA loads in 76 simultaneously obtained BAL fluid and throat wash samples from lung transplant recipients, we show that such contamination is unlikely and that detection of CMV DNA in BAL fluid reflects virus replication in the lung.