[The effect of enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and polymerase chain reaction on the detection of maternal and fetal human cytomegalovirus infection]

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) on detection human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in preghnant women and fetuses.

Methods: ELISA was used to screen for serum HCMV-IgM in 1881 pregnant women. Blood HCMV DNA was examined by PCR in 656 of them simultaneously. 99 fetuses or newborns of HCMV infected mothers and 47 of uninfected ones were detected by both methods.

Results: The positive rate of serum HCMV-IgM in pregnant women was 2.4%, and that of HCMV DNA was 12.0%, 17.2% of fetuses or newborns from infected mothers had either positive HCMV-IgM or positive HCMV DNA or both of them. The intrauterine transmission rate of HCMV in mothers with positive HCMV-IgM or positive HCMV DNA or both of them was 18.5%, 14.8% and 27.3% respectively. Simultaneous detection with ELISA and PCR in 656 pregnant women and 146 fetuses showed fine correlations and significant differences between two methods. PCR had significantly higher detection rates than that of ELISA.

Conclusions: ELISA combined with PCR may raise the detection rate and diagnostic efficacy of HCMV infection in both pregnant women and fetuses.