title: Seroconversion to human herpesvirus 6 following liver transplantation is a marker of cytomegalovirus disease.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection is common after transplantation; HHV-6 is known to interact with other viruses and induce immunosuppression. Whether HHV-6 plays a role in the occurrence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after transplantation was investigated. In a cohort of 247 liver transplant recipients, HHV-6 seroconversion was identified as a significant risk factor for development of symptomatic CMV infection (P < .001), including CMV organ involvement (P < .001), even in the presence of the other significant risk factors: D+/R- CMV serologic status (P < .001) or use of OKT3 after transplantation (P = .002). Subgroup analysis indicated that HHV-6 seroconversion was significantly associated with symptomatic CMV infection in the D+/R+ but not in the D+/R- CMV serologic group (P < .001 and P = .11, respectively). These results indicate that HHV-6 seroconversion is a marker for CMV disease after transplantation and suggest that additional studies using more sensitive diagnostic techniques are warranted to determine the relationship between HHV-6 and CMV infection after transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Dockrell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prada
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Badley
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Harmsen
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ilstrup
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wiesner
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Krom
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Paya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015415:Biomarkers