Study of herpes viruses in the blood of patients with cardiovascular pathology

: The association between Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Herpes simplex (HSV-1), on the one hand, and the coronary heart disease and chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), on the other hand, was studied; besides the infection rate by the above viruses in different age groups of donors was examined. The following methods--immune-enzyme analysis and detection of viral DNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as well as immune-fluorescence scanning of atherosclerotic plaques--were made use in the study. The pathogenesis of coronary heart disease was shown to be related with the viral contamination caused by CMV, while there was no such correlation between the former and the CVI patients. Finally, it was established that, with age, the frequency rate of seropositive reactions to CMV and HSV-1 was increasing in virtually healthy people.