Relationship between preexisting anti-varicella-zoster virus (VZV) antibody and clinical VZV reactivation in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients.
Reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV), presenting as localized zoster or as disseminated infection, is a common and potentially serious complication in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. We retrospectively studied anti-VZV immunoglobulin G titers by the immune adherence hemagglutination method after HSCT and also studied VZV DNA by real-time PCR during clinical VZV reactivation using cryopreserved serum samples. No significant difference was found between anti-VZV titers in 13 patients with VZV infection (localized zoster in 11 patients and disseminated zoster in 2 patients) and in 13 subjects without VZV infection at each time point after HSCT. Preexisting anti-VZV titers of disseminated zoster cases tended to be lower than those of localized zoster cases (P=0.10). Serum VZV DNA copy numbers at the onset of disseminated zoster cases tended to be higher than those of localized zoster cases (P=0.09). A strong inverse correlation was found between preexisting anti-VZV titer and serum VZV DNA at onset (r=-0.90, P=0.006). In HSCT recipients, preexisting antibody does not prevent the development of VZV reactivation but may contribute to decreased viral load at onset, resulting in a mild clinical course.
Onozawa
Masahiro
M
Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-15, Nishi-7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan. masahiro.onozawa@nifty.ne.jp
Hashino
Satoshi
S
Takahata
Mutsumi
M
Fujisawa
Fumie
F
Kawamura
Takahito
T
Nakagawa
Masao
M
Kahata
Kaoru
K
Kondo
Takeshi
T
Ota
Shuichi
S
Tanaka
Junji
J
Imamura
Masahiro
M
Asaka
Masahiro
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007104:Immune Adherence Reaction; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019562:Viral Load; D014775:Virus Activation
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G