Abstract

CASTANO, María Eugenia et al. Utility of detection of circulating cytomegalic cells in HIV negative immunosuppressed individuals to follow up cytomegalovirus infection. Biomédica [online]. 2005, vol.25, n.1, pp.129-135. ISSN 0120-4157.

Objective. To correlate the presence of circulating citomegalic cells (CCC) with CMV pp65 antigenemia with the development of clinical complications as a result of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease. Materials and methods. Between December-2002 and July-2003, 110 peripheral blood samples obtained from 46 immunosupressed patients were processed. pp65 antigenemia and the presence of CCC were determined by indirect immunofluorescence using a commercial kit to detect CMV pp65 antigen. In peripheral blood leukocytes, antigenemia was positive when there was one or more cells with multilobulated, homogenous fluorescent stain in the nucleus. The presence of CCC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was determined when an extended pattern of fluorescent stain in all the cytoplasm was observed in cells of 35 to 50 micrometers from. Results. 8 antigenemias from 7 patients (15%) were positive. Out of these, 4 (57%) were also positive for CCC, corresponding to 3 kidney transplant recipients and to 1 liver transplant recipient. The number of positive cells in antigenemia was greater in kidney-transplant recipients than in the rest of immunosupressed patients (457 vs.1.96, p< 0.005). There was not association between the presence of CCC, morbidity, mortality and the development of GVHD (p<0.001). Discussion. There was not any correlation between the detection of CCC, antigenemia and mortality in these patients. Nevertheless, further prospective studies with a greater number of individuals are required to rule out this correlation and to define the clinical used of this CCC in immunosupressed patients.

Keywords : cytomegalovirus; antigenemia; cytomegalic circulating cells; immunosuppression.

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