Identification of key genes associated with circadian rhythm as potential diagnostic biomarkers for cytomegalovirus infection in very low birth weight infants

After HCMV infection, most individuals have no obvious symptoms. However, HCMV infection in very low birth weight infants can cause liver function damage, thrombocytopenia, hearing damage, cholestasis and so on. Cytomegalovirus is generally thought to lurk and activate in monocytes. In this study, we performed transcriptomic analysis of RNA-seq on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of very low birth weight infants infected with HCMV, bringing new insights into a comprehensive understanding of the immune mechanisms involved during their infection. In order to detect CMV infection, urine CMV-DNA-PCR was routinely performed on very low birth weight infants (birth weight < 1500g) during hospitalization. In order to explore the transcriptome changes after HCMV infection in very low birth weight infants, we randomly selected 3 patients with persistent urine CMV-DNA-PCR negative as the control group, and 3 patients with urine CMV-DNA-PCR positive as the HCMV infection group. Blood samples were collected between 9 am and 10 am, and peripheral blood monocytes were extracted and sent for RNA-seq. Enrichment analysis was performed using transcript results.