Summary
The relationship between quantitative antigenemia and plasma DNAemia was studied for monitoring cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia in CMV infection (CMVI) or disease (CMVD), in 20 transplant recipients (13 CMD, seven CMVI). A total of 142 samples of blood were assayed for CMV‐DNA and pp‐65 antigenemia (CMV‐Ag). A quantitative correlation between both markers was found (P < 0.0001). First CMV antigenemia as well as first plasma DNA viral load was similar in CMVI and CMVD (29 vs. 24 CMV‐Ag+ cells/105 PMN; and 7445 vs. 12407 CMV‐DNA copies/ml). The maximum antigenemia was higher in CMVD than in CMVI (146 ± 87 vs. 61 ± 54 +cells/105 PMN, P < 0.05), but the highest CMV plasma viral load was similar in both groups (62592 ± 33000 vs. 42055 ± 38600 copies/ml). In nine patients, maximum antigenemia coincided with highest plasma DNA viral load, but in 10 highest DNAemia occurred 6 days later. On the contrary, antigenemia declined faster than CMV‐DNAnemia, after treatment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.