Different expressions of latent HCMV genes in UL133–UL138 locus was associated with systemic lupus erythematosus

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a member of the β-herpesvirus subfamily, establishes a life-long latent infection in the majority of the worldwide human. Accumulating studies have suggested that HCMV infection was a vital risk for SLE development. However, till to now, few studies carefully evaluated the relationship between HCMV latent infection and SLE. In this study, PBMCs from 92 SLE patients, and 81 controls were collected. The expression of viral genes in the UL133–UL138 locus in the isolated PBMCs was detected by our previous two-step nested RT-PCR. The relationship between the expression of viral genes in PBMCs and clinical indicators of SLE patients were further analyzed. Data indicated that the expression prevalence of UL133–UL138 was significant higher in the SLE patients, whereas UL135 and UL136 were detected only in the PBMC of the SLE populations. Correlation analysis of the expression of HCMV UL133–UL138 in the PBMCs and clinical indicators of the SLE patients suggested that UL133, UL135, UL136 were associated with various clinical parameters of the SLE patients. Especially, the SLE individuals with positive UL135 and/or UL136 genes had pancytopenia symptoms, including lymphocytopenia, monocytopenia and oligocythemia. In conclusion, our data confirm that the HCMV latent infection might also play a vital role in both the occurrence and development of SLE.