title: Immunosuppressive agents and cytomegalovirus infection.
abstract: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the major infectious complication observed after organ transplantation. As rejection episodes always occur in allograft-transplanted recipients, various kinds of immunosuppressive agents are used to control such rejection episodes. Among the commonly used immunosuppressive agents, anti-pan-T cell polyclonal and monoclonal antibody are known to increase the risk of viral infections. New immunological techniques have recently been developed to measure CMV-specific CD4 and CD8 cells by flow cytometry. Using the techniques, high frequencies of specific CD4 and CD8 T cells have been shown to be required to survey the CMV (re)activation in the persistent/latent phase of CMV infection. An excessive T cell depletion by OKT3 would deplete such surveying T cells, thus resulting in the occurrence of CMV-associated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, Tokai University School of Medicine, Bohseidai, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan. tanakaka@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000378:metabolism; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents