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Comparative Study
. 2001:1:2.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-1-2. Epub 2001 May 22.

CMV infection of liver transplant recipients: comparison of antigenemia and molecular biology assays

M L Amorim  1 , J M Cabeda, R Seca, A C Mendes, A P Castro, J M Amorim
Affiliations
Comparative Study

CMV infection of liver transplant recipients: comparison of antigenemia and molecular biology assays

M L Amorim et al. BMC Infect Dis. 2001.

Abstract

Background: CMV is a major clinical problem in transplant recipients. Thus, it is important to use sensitive and specific diagnostic techniques to rapidly and accurately detect CMV infection and identify patients at risk of developing CMV disease. In the present study, CMV infection after liver transplantation was monitored retrospectively by two molecular biology assays - a quantitative PCR assay and a qualitative NASBA assay. The results were compared with those obtained by prospective pp65 antigenemia determinations.

Materials and methods: 87 consecutive samples from 10 liver transplanted patients were tested for CMV by pp65 antigenemia, and CMV monitor and NASBA pp67 mRNA assay.

Results: CMV infection was detected in all patients by antigenemia and CMV monitor, whereas NASBA assay identified only 8/10 patients with viremia. Furthermore, CMV infection was never detected earlier by molecular biology assays than by antigenemia. Only 5/10 patients with CMV infection developed CMV disease. Using a cut off value of 8 cells/50,000, antigenemia was found to be the assay that better identified patients at risk of developing CMV disease. However, the kinetics of the onset of infection detected by NASBA and CMV monitor seemed to have better identified patients at risk of developing CMV disease. Furthermore, before onset of disease, CMV pp67 mRNA was found to have similar or better negative and positive predictive values for the development of CMV disease.

Conclusions: The present data, suggests that the concomitant use of antigenemia and pp67 mRNA assay gives the best identification of patients at risk of developing CMV disease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kinetics of CMV determination by antigenemia (squares), CMV monitor (small dots), and CMV pp67 mRNA (circles), in the 5 patients that did not develop CMV disease. The right Y-axis was used for qualitative pp67 mRNA assay: P = positive; N = negative.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kinetics of CMV determination by antigenemia (squares), CMV monitor (small dots), and CMV pp67 mRNA (circles), in the 5 patients that developed CMV disease. The arrows indicate the onset of CMV disease, and the red rectangles the period of ganciclovir administration. A black R on a red circle indicates a retransplantation surgery. Patient F died at the second retransplantation surgery for reasons not related to CMV disease. The right Y axis was used for qualitative pp67 mRNA assay: P = positive; N = negative.
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