title: Non-organ-specific autoantibodies in renal transplant recipients: relation to BK virus infection.
abstract: Polyomavirus BK reactivation is common in renal transplant recipients and may cause nephropathy with significant graft dysfunction. The induction of anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies by BKV has been described in experimental animals and during primary infection, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. This study evaluated the occurrence of anti-dsDNA antibodies and non-organ-specific autoantibodies (NOSA) by indirect immunofluorescence before transplantation and at 3 and 6 months post-transplantation in 90 renal transplant recipients and the association with BKV reactivation, demographic and clinical features. Moreover, the relation to HCMV infection, as detected by pp65-antigenemia, was also evaluated. Post-transplantation NOSAs were present in 23/90 (25.6%) and anti-dsDNA antibodies in 17/90 (18.9%). BK viremia was detected in at least one serum sample in 22 patients: 9 anti-dsDNA antibody-positive vs 13 negative (p<0.01). No significant correlation between the occurrence of NOSAs and anti-dsDNA antibodies and demographic and clinical features was found. No significant association with pp65-antigenemia-positivity was found, although antigenemia was positive in 6/23 NOSA-positive patients (26.1%). Although a relation seems to exist between BKV and the occurrence of anti-dsDNA antibodies in renal transplant patients, the lack of correlation with other epidemiological and clinical features does not allow any conclusion. The role of autoimmune response in this context and the relation with other patient-related factors and infectious agents should be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Microbiology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. cristina.costa@unito.it
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Giovanni Antonio
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Touscoz
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergallo
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sidoti
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Terlizzi
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Astegiano
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Merlino
authors.forename: Giuseppe P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Segoloni
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cavallo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001739:BK Virus / Q000276:immunology*; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000097:blood; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000097:blood; D014766:Viremia
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa; D004247:DNA