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David H. Dockrell, Jose Prada, Mary F. Jones, Robin Patel, Andrew D. Badley, William S. Harmsen, Duane M. Ilstrup, Russell H. Wiesner, Ruud A. F. Krom, Thomas F. Smith, Carlos V. Paya, Seroconversion to Human Herpesvirus 6 following Liver Transplantation Is a Marker of Cytomegalovirus Disease, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 176, Issue 5, November 1997, Pages 1135–1140, https://doi.org/10.1086/514104
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Abstract
Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection is common after transplantation; HHV-6 is known to interact with other viruses and induce immunosuppression. Whether HHV-6 plays a role in the occurrence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after transplantation was investigated. In a cohort of 247 liver transplant recipients, HHV-6 seroconversion was identified as a significant risk factor for development of symptomatic CMV infection (P < .001), including CMV organ involvement (P < .001), even in the presence of the other significant risk factors: D+/R- CMV serologic status (P < .001) or use of OKT3 after transplantation (P < .002). Subgroup analysis indicated that HHV-6 seroconversion was significantly associated with symptomatic CMV infection in the D+/R+ but not in the D+/R- CMV serologic group (P < .001 and P = .11, respectively). These results indicate that HHV-6 seroconversion is a marker for CMV disease after transplantation and suggest that additional studies using more sensitive diagnostic techniques are warranted to determine the relationship between HHV-6 and CMV infection after transplantation.