Strain-specific seroepidemiology and reinfection of cytomegalovirus.
Although there have been some reports describing the serostatus of cytomegalovirus, strain-specific antibody responses and their distribution remain unknown. In this study, ELISA using fusion proteins encompassing epitope of glycoprotein H from both AD169 and Towne strains was used to test 352 blood donors. Of these 352 donors, 207 were analyzed for strain-specific glycoprotein H antibodies. Of the 44 donors whose serum contained antibodies against both AD169 and Towne, 27 (60%) were aged 50 years or over (p = 0.0003). This may indicate serological evidence of reinfection with cytomegalovirus in the elder population. The nucleotide sequence analysis of cytomegalovirus glycoprotein H from the peripheral blood of the cytomegalovirus-positive renal transplant recipients showed that our strain-specific ELISA can reveal cytomegalovirus reinfection after transplantation.
Ishibashi
Kei
K
Department of Microbiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan. keikun@fmu.ac.jp
Tokumoto
Tadahiko
T
Shirakawa
Hiroki
H
Hashimoto
Koichi
K
Kushida
Nobuhiro
N
Yanagida
Tomohiko
T
Shishido
Keiichi
K
Aikawa
Ken
K
Yamaguchi
Osamu
O
Toma
Hiroshi
H
Tanabe
Kazunari
K
Suzutani
Tatsuo
T