Clinical relevance of direct quantification of pp65 antigenemia using flow cytometry in solid organ and stem cell transplant recipients.

A total of 1,305 blood samples from 85 solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and 25 stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients at risk for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection were prospectively collected and tested using the shell vial assay (SVA) and a leukocytic qualitative PCR (q-PCR). Of these, 462 specimens were further tested by direct quantification of CMV antigenemia by flow cytometry (FC-Ag), 125 were tested with a quantitative competitive PCR, and 200 were tested for pp65 antigenemia using the slide method (S-Ag). Laboratory data were statistically analyzed according to the presence of CMV-related symptoms.

Successful quantification of cytomegalovirus DNA by competitive PCR and detection with capillary electrophoresis.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is responsible for severe infections in immunocompromised patients. Viral load has recently been identified as one of the major risk factors for subsequent development of HCMV disease. In this context, we developed a protocol allowing rapid, sensitive and precise quantification of HCMV DNA using competitive PCR run to saturation.