A Predictive Model for Cytomegalovirus Infection Using Routine Hematological and Biochemical Parameters: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether hematological and biochemical parameters assist in diagnosing cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections and differentiating between CMV-G and CMV-M. Cytomegalovirus causes distinct hematological changes that can serve as markers for diagnosis.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 54 patients infected with CMV (25 CMV-G and 29 CMV-M) and 82 healthy controls. Age, gender, and routine hematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis and logistic regression were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

In comparison to controls, laboratory findings of patients with CMV-G revealed characteristic decreases in red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and platelets (p < 0.05); those with CMV-M showed reductions in the same parameters alongside elevation of monocytes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) (p < 0.05). The most effective blood markers for differentiating CMV-G patients from controls were RBC, HGB, HCT, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), platelets, AST, ferritin, APRI and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) meanwhile, for CMV-M patients, distinguishing markers were RBC, HGB, HCT, MCH, monocytes, platelets, AST, TIBC, APRI and FIB-4. The best predictors for distinguishing CMV-M from CMV-G were TIBC, AST, HCT, monocytes, HGB, ALT, APRI and FIB-4 all with area under the curve values greater than 0.6 (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Hematological and biochemical indicators can successfully distinguish CMV infections, with TIBC, AST, HCT, monocytes, HGB, ALT, APRI and FIB-4 being potentially useful for discriminating CMV-M from CMV-G. These findings could help predict CMV-infected patients.