title: Allogeneic cell stimulation enhances cytomegalovirus replication in the early period of primary infection in an experimental rat model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cytomegalovirus (CMV) diseases commonly occur in allograft recipients in the early post-transplant period. However, factors responsible for the high incidence of CMV diseases during this period are not yet fully defined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wistar-Furth (WF; RT-1(u)) rats were inoculated with 10(4) plaque-forming units (PFU) of rat CMV (RCMV) intraperitoneally, and then transplanted with allogeneic lungs from Dark Agouti (DA; RT-1avl) rats or stimulated with 10(7) mitomycin C-treated spleen cells from DA rats by daily sub-cutaneous injections for 2 weeks. No immunosuppressive agent was used. Naive WF rats and WF rats grafted with syngeneic lungs or cells were used as controls. The level of RCMV replication in rats was assessed by infectious virus titers in tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The virus titers in salivary glands of allogeneic and syngeneic lung graft recipients were significantly higher than in naive WF rats. The level of RCMV replication in rats stimulated with allogeneic spleen cells was significantly higher than in the syngeneic recipient rats: virus titers in the salivary gland of allogeneic and syngeneic recipients reached 4.61 +/- 0.33 and 4.00 +/- 0.37 log(10) PFU/g tissue, respectively, at 14 days post-infection (p = 0.015). The augmented viral replication in allogeneic recipients was confirmed by an increase in the number of RCMV antigen-positive macrophages present in tissue sections of the salivary gland.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acute lung allograft rejection and allogeneic spleen cell stimulation enhance CMV replication in the salivary gland of rats. Various responses to allogeneic antigens occurring in the process of acute allograft rejection could be risk factors for post-transplant CMV replication and infection.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Tadayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koji
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katamine
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Hiroyoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ayabe
mesh_terms: D000477:Alkylating Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D000818:Animals; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000009:adverse effects; D051381:Rats; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D013997:Time Factors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000477:Alkylating Agents; D016685:Mitomycin