Aim: To demonstrate if the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genome, that is involved in the pathogenesis of gliomas, is part of the genomic DNA of glioma cells or not.
Material and methods: The study included U87MG glioblastoma cell culture and tumor samples from glioma patients. The genomic DNA of tumor samples and U87MG cells were extracted and real-time quantitative PCR was used to assess the presence of the human cytomegalovirus genomic DNA.
Results: Consequently, HCMV positivity was not detected in the tumor and cell line genomic DNA under the aforementioned experimental conditions.
Conclusion: We found that the genomic DNA of all the samples was negative for HCMV genomic DNA. Thus, HCMV could not be detected in human glioma tumors and we put forward that HCMV genomic DNA was not incorporated into the genomic DNA of glioma cells. Thus, total viral DNA is not involved in the pathogenesis of glioma; however, small viral particles or specific genes might be incorporated into the genomic DNA of glioma cells, leading to cancer development. This prompts further studies for verification.