Immunobiology of Human Cytomegalovirus: from Bench to Bedside

Abstract

SUMMARY Following primary infection, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) establishes lifelong latency and periodically reactivates without causing symptoms in healthy individuals. In the absence of an adequate host-derived immune response, this fine balance of permitting viral reactivation without causing pathogenesis is disrupted, and HCMV can subsequently cause invasive disease and an array of damaging indirect immunological effects. Over the last decade, our knowledge of the immune response to HCMV infection in healthy virus carriers and diseased individuals has allowed us to translate these findings to develop better diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies. The application of these emerging technologies in the clinical setting is likely to provide opportunities for better management of patients with HCMV-associated diseases.

Human herpes virus 6 infection is a hallmark of cord blood transplant in adults and may participate to delayed engraftment: a comparison with matched unrelated donors as stem cell source

“…As already described, 29 we observed a B-cell 'rebound' at month 6, which may be explained by the fact that basically B lymphocytes are in excess in CB graft. 32 Similarly, our study confirmed the rapid recovery of NK cells after CBT. 29,30,36 It is of importance as NK cells are known to have potential effect on clinical outcomes in term of complications, GVHD or relapse.…”

“…It is more surprising for CMV than EBV because: (1) CMV and HHV6 are both member of the b-Herpesvirinae subfamily; (2) HHV6 has been described as a cofactor for CMV disease 31 and (3) HHV6 and CMV share similar target cells such as monocytes and BM progenitors. 32,33 As a consequence, a yet unknown factor in the CB graft or some specific features during immune reconstitution would exacerbate the reactivation of HHV6, that do not influence CMV reactivation. One possible explanation has been suggested by analyzing quantitative expression of the HHV6 cell receptor CD46 on human CB, peripheral blood and G-CSF mobilized leukapheresis cells.…”

Risk factors for cytomegalovirus reactivation after liver transplantation: Can pre‐transplant cytomegalovirus antibody titers predict outcome?

“…There has been evidence in animal and human studies that supports a role of CMV-specific humoral immunity, in addition to cellular-specific cellular immunity, for the prevention of CMV reactivation after transplantation and for the minimization of the severity of the disease. 15 Our data support these observations on the important role of humoral immunity in the prevention of CMV infection in CMV-seropositive SOT recipients. However, the exact mechanism for this effect in controlling CMV replication has not been elucidated and requires further studies.…”

CMV seropositivity and T‐cell senescence predict increased cardiovascular mortality in octogenarians: results from the Newcastle 85+ study

“…Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous herpes virus and shares a high prevalence in developed countries (Crough & Khanna, 2009). A growing body of evidence suggests an important role of CMV during aging (Pawelec et al ., 2009; Solana et al ., 2012).…”