Jakovljevic, A. (56396874600)A. (56396874600)JakovljevicKnezevic, A. (22034890600)A. (22034890600)KnezevicNikolic, N. (55324775800)N. (55324775800)NikolicSoldatovic, I. (35389846900)I. (35389846900)SoldatovicJovanovic, T. (26642921700)T. (26642921700)JovanovicMilasin, J. (6603015594)J. (6603015594)MilasinAndric, M. (20435687400)M. (20435687400)Andric2025-07-022025-07-022018https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.12829https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85043509314&doi=10.1111%2fodi.12829&partnerID=40&md5=7946f60cb59ab27ecb673b852aab4b1fhttps://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/12891Objectives: This study aimed to analyse Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) viral loads in symptomatic and asymptomatic apical periodontitis lesions, to determine levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in these lesions and to investigate a possible correlation between herpesviral copy numbers and levels of proinflammatory cytokines. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 samples of apical periodontitis were subjected to HCMV and EBV copy numbers analysis by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and TaqMan real-time PCR. The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were determined by ELISA method. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in the occurrence of EBV and HCMV between symptomatic and asymptomatic periapical lesions (p =.686, p =.879, respectively). Only 12 of 74 EBV (16.2%) and four of 54 HCMV (13.5%) nested PCR-positive samples showed increased viral copy numbers above the limit of 125 copies/ml. There was no significant correlation between the levels of analysed proinflammatory cytokines and herpesviral copy numbers in our sample. Conclusion: The observed low viral loads point to a relatively rare occurrence of active EBV and HCMV infection in our sample. Latent herpesviral infection does not enhance the production of investigated proinflammatory cytokines. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reservedapical periodontitisEpstein–Barr virushuman cytomegalovirusinterleukin-1betainterleukin-6tumour necrosis factor-alpha