title: Clinical relevance of direct quantification of pp65 antigenemia using flow cytometry in solid organ and stem cell transplant recipients.
abstract: A total of 1,305 blood samples from 85 solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and 25 stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients at risk for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection were prospectively collected and tested using the shell vial assay (SVA) and a leukocytic qualitative PCR (q-PCR). Of these, 462 specimens were further tested by direct quantification of CMV antigenemia by flow cytometry (FC-Ag), 125 were tested with a quantitative competitive PCR, and 200 were tested for pp65 antigenemia using the slide method (S-Ag). Laboratory data were statistically analyzed according to the presence of CMV-related symptoms. In SOT and SCT recipients, active CMV infection occurred in 63.5 and 36%, respectively, and CMV disease occurred in 53 and 24%, respectively. FC-Ag results correlated better with q-PCR and S-Ag than with SVA. The first test found to be positive during follow-up was FC-Ag in 73% of cases. In SOT recipients, FC-Ag showed the highest sensitivity and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of any grade of CMV disease. For FC-Ag, the threshold beyond which CMV disease was highly probable seemed to lie at 0.20% positive polymorphonuclear leukocytes. FC-Ag appears to be a useful test for the early detection of CMV infection and the prediction of CMV disease.
authors.affiliation: Virology Laboratory EA-1156, Institute of Biology of Nantes University Hospital, Nantes University Hospital, 44093 Nantes Cedex 01, France.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Poirier-Toulemonde
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Milpied
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cantarovich
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Morcet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Billaudel
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Imbert-Marcille
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D014766:Viremia / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D004279:DNA, Viral; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa