Growth and Isolation of Human Cytomegalovirus on a New Human Fetal Foreskin Fibroblast-derived Cell Line in Iran

Cell culture technique has been used for detection and confirmation of many different viruses in clinical samples. Although, new diagnostic methods have been developed for viral infections, traditional cell culturetechnique is still regarded as the “gold standard” for several infectious agents such as human cytomegalovirus(HCMV). In the present study, a new human fetal foreskin fibroblast (HFFF)-derived cell line was obtained from a normal Iranian male fetus at the end of first trimester at National Cell Bank of Iran (NCBI) and its ability for HCMV growth was investigated.Thirteen treated urine samples from renal transplant recipients were inoculated onto HFFF monolayer.HCMV growth was monitored and confirmed by typical CMV cytopathic effect (CPE), histological staining,immunological staining and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) method and sequencing. All of the abovementioneddetection methods were confirmed that newHFFF-derived cell line is a sensitive line for growth ofHCMV. This cell line has been named HFFF-PI6 and isavailable with accession number NCBI C170 at NCBIof Pasteur Institute of Iran.