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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Separation of Immune Cell Subpopulations in Peripheral Blood Samples from Children with Infectious Mononucleosis
Published on: September 7, 2022
Immunologic and virologic analyses in pediatric liver transplant recipients with chronic high Epstein-Barr virus
Kensei Gotoh1, Yoshinori Ito, Rieko Ohta
1Department of Pediatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
Background:
Long-term Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) monitoring for potentially life-threatening posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) has identified asymptomatic patients who maintain high EBV loads over long periods.
Methods:
Thirty-one pediatric liver transplant recipients were designated as 11 chronic high EBV load carriers (EBV DNA level >5000 copies/mL of whole blood for >6 months) and 20 control recipients. Serial quantification of EBV DNA, measurement of interleukin 10 (IL-10) concentrations, EBV-specific tetramer staining, and relative quantification of EBV gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were performed.
Results:
Most of the chronic high EBV load carriers were seronegative at transplant, the median time to resolution of a chronic high EBV load was 23 months, and no recipient developed late-onset PTLD. EBV DNA was detected predominantly in CD19(+) cells. The plasma concentration of IL-10 and the EBV-specific CD8(+) cell frequency did not differ significantly between the chronic high EBV load carriers and the control recipients. Analysis of gene expression showed that EBV-encoded small RNA 1, BamHI A rightward transcripts, and latent membrane protein 2 were positive in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from chronic high EBV load carriers.
Conclusions:
EBV-infected cells in the blood of chronic high EBV load carriers expressed a highly restricted set of latency genes, suggesting that the EBV-infected cells escaped from a T cell response.
