title: Early weaning of piglets fails to exclude porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Xenotransplantation using pigs as source species carries a risk for the activation of latent herpesviruses from the porcine donor and potential transmission to the recipient. In pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation, activation of porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) has been associated with xenograft injury and an increased incidence of consumptive coagulopathy and graft loss. Activation of porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus (PLHV)-1 was not observed in pig-to-baboon solid organ xenotransplantation, but was associated with a syndrome of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in pigs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Early weaning of piglets was used to try to reduce the viral burden of xenograft donors. This consisted of separating the piglets of a litter from the sow within the first 2 weeks after birth and raising them in isolation from the remaining herd.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have previously demonstrated that PCMV could be excluded from source animals by early weaning of piglets. However, early weaning failed to exclude PLHV-1 from source pigs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This disparity between PCMV and PLHV-1 reflects differing pathogenesis of infection of these herpesviruses. New approaches will be needed to exclude PLHV-1 from pig colonies.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Nicolas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuwaki
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knosalla
authors.forename: Frank J M F
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Dor
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gollackner
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arn
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.forename: David K C
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fishman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission; D018142:Gammaherpesvirinae; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D008232:Lymphoproliferative Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D010215:Papio; D034421:Sus scrofa; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014886:Weaning