In a multicenter study, 113 blood samples from 19 organ transplant patients were analyzed for cytomegalovirus by the pp65 antigenemia assay and a quantitative DNA hybridization assay. Overall, there was 84% agreement among the results obtained by the two tests. Fifteen of 16 episodes of active infection were detected by both assays. One episode was missed by the pp65 assay, and one patient show...

BACKGROUND Routine cytomegalovirus (CMV)-pp65 antigenaemia monitoring shows that some patients will develop pp65 antigenaemia during valaciclovir prophylaxis or after cessation of treatment. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lowering immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients who exhibit mildly symptomatic CMV infections while on valaciclovir prophyla...

OBJECTIVES Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) remains a major morbidity and mortality cause in immuno suppressed patients. Therefore, significant effort has been made towards the development of a vaccine. In this study, the expression of the pp65 and gB fusion peptides and Fc domain of mouse IgG2a as a novel delivery system for selective uptake of antigens by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in Pichia...

The functional status of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) populations recognizing cytomegalovirus intermediate-early antigen (IE1) and pp65 polypeptides was investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) and solid organ transplant recipients. Combined flow-based CD107a/b degranulation/mobilization and intracellular cytokine (ICC) assays using pepti...

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play a central role in the control of persistent human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in healthy virus carriers. Previous analyses of the specificity of HCMV-reactive CD8(+) CTLs drawn from in vitro models in which antigen-presenting cells were autologous fibroblasts infected with laboratory HCMV strains have shown focusing of CTL responses against the major teg...

The development of a protective cellular immune response against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most important determinant of recovery from HCMV infection after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The ultimate aim of our study is to develop an antigen-specific and peptide-based vaccine strategy against HCMV in the setting of BMT. Toward this end we have studied the cellular immun...

BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most important opportunistic infections in transplant recipients. Currently sero-positivity for CMV IgG before solid organ transplantation is the laboratory test of choice for stratifying the risk of CMV reactivation after solid organ transplantation. Theoretically, CMV-specific cell-mediated immune responses before solid organ transplantation shou...

BACKGROUND The mechanisms responsible for the increased susceptibility of fetuses to cytomegalovirus (CMV) were studied by comparing CD8(+) T cell responses to the virus in susceptible fetuses to those in their comparatively more resistant mothers. METHODS Included in the study were 16 transmitter mothers who underwent seroconversion during the first trimester of pregnancy as well as their fe...

We have identified a cytomegalovirus virion protein capable of modulating the rapid induction of an interferon-like response in cells that follows virus binding and penetration. Functional genomics revealed a role for the major cytomegalovirus structural protein, pp65 (ppUL83), in counteracting this response. The underlying mechanism involves a differential impact of this structural protein on ...

objectives: human cytomegalovirus (cmv) is a major life-threatening pathogen for hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. specific tests are used for the diagnosis and monitoring of cmv infection in transplant patients. this study evaluates the performance of pp65 antigenemia and qualitative pcr assays for monitoring cmv in such patients. methods: we analyzed 179 clinical samples from 41...