Successive emergence of two CD8 subsets in primary CMV infection of allograft recipients.
Allograft recipients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection develop increased proportions of circulating CD8+ lymphocytes. A longitudinal study of 11 kidney and 5 liver allograft recipients with primary CMV infection but no other aetiological factor to explain graft dysfunction revealed selective imbalances in peripheral blood CD8+ T cell subsets. Initially, CMV viraemia was associated with elevated CD8+bright T cell numbers and T cell activation. Activation markers fell to normal when viral cultures became negative (before the end of the 1st month). During the 2nd-6th months, most (12/16) patients continued to have high CD8+ T cell counts (1050-2900 CD8+ cells/mm3), comprising an uncommon CD8+ T cell subset, as 45-73% of CD8+bright lymphocytes were CD3+ and TCRalphabeta+ but were not stained by anti-CD28, CD11b, CD16, CD56 and CD57 antibody. Unexpectedly, CD8+ CD57+ T cells, a hallmark of CMV infection, did not appear until the 2nd-6th months of primary CMV infection, and their numbers increased progressively thereafter. They became the predominant CD8+ T cell subset after about 6 months of infection and their persistence for several (up to 4) years was strongly correlated (r = 0.87) with expansion of CD8+ cells. Persistence of CD8 lymphocytosis was, thus, directly related to the rate of expansion of an uncommon CD8+ CD57- subset and its progressive replacement by CD8+ CD57+ T cells that were chronically elicited by CMV.
Service d'Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine et CHRU de Lille, France.
M
M
Labalette
F
F
Salez
F R
FR
Pruvot
C
C
Noel
J P
JP
Dessaint
D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood; D018959:CD57 Antigens / Q000097:blood; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000276:immunology; D017260:Receptor-CD3 Complex, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000097:blood; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000097:blood; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014766:Viremia / Q000276:immunology
D015703:Antigens, CD; D018959:CD57 Antigens; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D017260:Receptor-CD3 Complex, Antigen, T-Cell; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2