Applications of gold nanoparticles in virus detection

Draz, Mohamed Shehata; Shafiee, Hadi

HCMV/HHV-5 is the largest known endemic virus in humans. It persistently infects over 70% of the population worldwide [165] . HCMV can infect a broad range of cells, including endothelial cells, epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, neuronal cells, hepatocytes, and many types of immune cells [165, 166] . Nearly all HCMV infections are asymptomatic, except in immunocompromised individuals and neonates, and can lead to severe symptoms. HCMV infection is the leading cause of congenital malformations in live births worldwide, while in immunocompromised individuals HCMV is usually opportunistic, causing very serious clinical manifestations, such as pneumonia, hepatitis, encephalitis, colitis, and retinitis [167, 168] . Moreover, HCMV has been described to be associated with several human malignancies, especially in the brain, breast, prostate, skin and colon [169] . Numerous HCMV vaccine candidates have been developed and tested, but a vaccine has yet to be licensed. Antiviral therapy with several anti-HCMV drugs, such as ganciclovir, valganciclovir, foscarnet, and cidofovir, which target the viral DNA polymerase, is currently the main strategy for controlling HCMV infection [166, 170, 171] . Unfortunately, these drugs result in substantial hematotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in patients, and HCMV remains a considerable public health threat without an efficient treatment or control strategy. In such conditions, the need for new diagnostic methods that can help to control the dissemination of this pathogen is very important.