Treatment-Dependent Loss of Polyfunctional Cd8+ T-Cell Responses in HIV-Infected Kidney Transplant Recipients Is Associated with Herpesvirus Reactivation
04/2009
Journal Article
Authors:
Gasser, O.;
Bihl, F.;
Sanghavi, S.;
Rinaldo, C.;
Rowe, D.;
Hess, C.;
Stablein, D.;
Roland, M.;
Stock, P.;
Brander, C.
Secondary:
Am J Transplant
Volume:
9
Pagination:
794-803
URL:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19298451
Keywords:
Acyclovir; Adult; Aged; Antiviral Agents; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Cell Survival; Cytomegalovirus; Flow cytometry; Ganciclovir; HIV Infections; HLA-A Antigens; HLA-B Antigens; HLA-DR Antigens
Abstract:
Antiretroviral-therapy has dramatically changed the course of HIV infection and HIV-infected (HIV(+)) individuals are becoming more frequently eligible for solid-organ transplantation. However, only scarce data are available on how immunosuppressive (IS) strategies relate to transplantation outcome and immune function. We determined the impact of transplantation and immune-depleting treatment on CD4+ T-cell counts, HIV-, EBV-, and Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-viral loads and virus-specific T-cell immunity in a 1-year prospective cohort of 27 HIV(+) kidney transplant recipients. While the results show an increasing breadth and magnitude of the herpesvirus-specific cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response over-time, they also revealed a significant depletion of polyfunctional virus-specific CTL in individuals receiving thymoglobulin as a lymphocyte-depleting treatment. The disappearance of polyfunctional CTL was accompanied by virologic EBV-reactivation events, directly linking the absence of specific polyfunctional CTL to viral reactivation. The data provide first insights into the immune-reserve in HIV+ infected transplant recipients and highlight new immunological effects of thymoglobulin treatment. Long-term studies will be needed to assess the clinical risk associated with thymoglobulin treatment, in particular with regards to EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases.
