Human cytomegalovirus and restenosis of the internal carotid artery

Background: Although human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been implicated in coronary restenosis, data on the presence of HCMV in the restenosis lesion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are lacking. Summary of Report: We studied endarterectomy tissue from 5 ICA restenoses and 5 primary atherosclerotic lesions and tissue from 5 normal ICAs. The extracted DNA was tested for HCMV sequences with polymerase chain reaction by use of three primer pairs that amplify different genomic regions. The AD169 strain of HCMV served as the positive control. No trace of the HCMV genome was found in the intima or in the underlying media of endarterectomy specimens from restenosis and primary lesions. The media from control arteries was also HCMV negative. Conclusions: At variance with previous studies carried out in coronary arteries, our results do not support the hypothesis that HCMV infection is implicated in restenosis of the ICA.