Antibodies against cytomegalovirus-induced early antigens (CMV-EA) in immunosuppressed renal-allograft recipients
The, T.H.; Andersen, H.K.; Spencer, E.S.; Klein, G.
Clinical and Experimental Immunology 28(3): 502-505
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9104 PMID: 196800 Document Number: 115399
Antibodies against cytomegalovirus-specific early antigens (CMV-EA) were followed in sera, obtained from fifteen immunosuppressed renal-allograft recipients. Eight patients (sixty-two sera) showed seroconversion 47--137 days post-transplantation. Five patients (forty sera) with CMV antibodies at the moment of renal implantation all showed CMV-EA antibody rises. Two patients remained seronegative until 4 years after transplantation. Thus, in immunosuppressed patients, antibodies against CMV-EA remained a high titres during many years (4--8 years) after transplantation as distinct from the apparently transient nature in acutely infected previously healthy adults with CMV mononucleosis or post-perfusion syndrome. These results support the view that CMV-EA antibodies reflect an active viral proliferation in the host.