CMV specific T cell immunity predicts early viremia after liver transplantation

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most important factors affecting liver transplant with direct and indirect effects. However, CMV disease after transplant remains poorly predicted.

In this study, preoperative CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity was evaluated in recipients of liver transplant in Korea, where most people are seropositive.

A total of 32 patients were enrolled in a prospective study, and blood samples were collected before liver transplant to determine CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity. Testing using ELiSpot IFN-γ (CMVspot) and CMV serology were performed simultaneously.

CMVspot results showed that 30 recipients had CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity, of which 29 were positive for phosphoprotein 65 and 14 for immediate early protein 1 (IE-1). All patients were positive for CMV IgG before transplantation, and 17 patients had a CMV viremia episode after transplantation. CMVspot showed 100% specificity and positive predictive value, and 11.76% sensitivity to predict CMV viremia. Patients with positive or borderline results for IE-1 did not show viremia two months after transplantation (p = .041).

CMVspot may be helpful in establishing a treatment strategy that includes regular monitoring for risk stratification of CMV reactivation.