Frequency of human cytomegalovirus-specific T cells during pregnancy determined by intracellular cytokine staining
✍ Scribed by Tomoko Fujikawa; Kei Numazaki; Hideomi Asanuma; Ryuichi Kudo; Hiroyuki Tsutsumi
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2003
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 83 KB
- Volume
- 71
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0146-6615
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
The characteristics of cytomegalovirus (CMV)‐specific T‐cell immunity was investigated in pregnant women with primary, latent, or reactivated CMV infection, and in a comparative group of non‐pregnant women. Forty‐six pregnant and 8 non‐pregnant women were examined based on the presence of serum antibody activity against CMV and viral excretion in urine. The frequency of CMV‐specific CD4^+^ T cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes was determined by staining for intracellular cytokines, interferon (IFN)‐γ, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α. There was no change in the frequencies of CMV‐specific CD4^+^ T cells in CMV‐seropositive normal non‐pregnant and pregnant women at any gestation. However, the frequency of CMV‐specific CD4^+^ T cells in pregnant women associated with CMV reactivation or reinfection was significantly higher than in CMV‐seropositive normal pregnant and non‐pregnant women. There were no CMV transmissions to the infants of all these women. These CMV‐specific T cells responses in pregnant women may contribute some to block the intrauterine CMV infection in their infants. J. Med. Virol. 71:527–531, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.