Objectives: This study aimed to analyse Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) viral loads in symptomatic and asymptomatic apical periodontitis lesions, to determine levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in these lesions and to investigate a possible correlation between herpesviral copy numbers and levels of proinflammatory cytokines.
Materials and methods: A total of 100 samples of apical periodontitis were subjected to HCMV and EBV copy numbers analysis by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and TaqMan real-time PCR. The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were determined by ELISA method. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis.
Results: There were no significant differences in the occurrence of EBV and HCMV between symptomatic and asymptomatic periapical lesions (p = .686, p = .879, respectively). Only 12 of 74 EBV (16.2%) and four of 54 HCMV (13.5%) nested PCR-positive samples showed increased viral copy numbers above the limit of 125 copies/ml. There was no significant correlation between the levels of analysed proinflammatory cytokines and herpesviral copy numbers in our sample.
Conclusion: The observed low viral loads point to a relatively rare occurrence of active EBV and HCMV infection in our sample. Latent herpesviral infection does not enhance the production of investigated proinflammatory cytokines.
Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus; apical periodontitis; human cytomegalovirus; interleukin-1beta; interleukin-6; tumour necrosis factor-alpha.
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