Successful modification of a pp65 antigenemia-based early treatment strategy for prevention of cytomegalovirus disease in allogeneic marrow transplant recipients.
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Publications and source records attributed to M Boeckh.
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Oral ganciclovir is effective in preventing cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in HIV-infected patients despite a bioavailability of only 6-9%. To determine safety, pharmacokinetics, and the influence of acute gastrointestinal graft-vs.-host disease (GI-GVHD) on the bioavailability and antiviral effect of oral ganciclovir after marrow transplantation, CMV seropositive patients received oral ganciclovir (1000 mg 3 times per day) from day 35 (+/- 7 days) until day 100 after transplantation. Single-dose (intravenous and oral) and steady-state oral pharmacokinetic profiles and weekly trough levels were performed. Twenty-one patients received oral ganciclovir (seven with GI-GVHD, 14 without); 17 had steady-state pharmacokinetic profiles and seven had single-dose profiles. The absolute bioavailability was similar in patients with or without acute GI-GVHD (7.2 vs. 6.9%). At steady state, the extent and rate of absorption of oral ganciclovir were comparable in these same patient subgroups (area under the curve [AUC] = 13.5 and 10.2 mg x hours/L, respectively; time to peak serum ganciclovir concentrations = 5.5 and 3.8 hours, respectively). Breakthrough CMV antigenemia, viremia, or plasma polymerase chain reaction positivity occurred in eight of 21 (38%) patients (four of seven with GVHD and four of 14 without). Drug discontinuation because of GI adverse effects was required in six of 21 (29%) patients. Neutropenia occurred in two of 15 (13%) patients who had received oral ganciclovir for more than 10 days. In conclusion, the bioavailability of oral ganciclovir seems similar to that reported in other settings. The presence of acute GVHD of the GI tract did not appear to adversely affect absorption of oral ganciclovir. The use of oral ganciclovir was limited by the presence of GI intolerance in the early posttransplant period. The efficacy of oral ganciclovir in preventing CMV infection in marrow transplant recipients is being assessed in a separate randomized controlled trial.
This study sought to determine whether high-dose acyclovir improves posttransplant survival in cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seropositive patients when ganciclovir is given for prophylaxis or as early therapy. Three groups were studied: Group 1 (n = 112) received ganciclovir from engraftment without prior acyclovir treatment, group 2 (n = 114) was given ganciclovir for CMV pp65 antigenemia without prior acyclovir, and group 3 (n = 133) received ganciclovir at engraftment with prior intravenous acyclovir (500 mg/m2 every 8 h) from day 5 before transplant until engraftment. In a multivariable Cox model, there was no significant difference in the adjusted risk of transplant survival between the groups during the first 2 years after transplant (relative risk for mortality: group 1, 1.0; group 2, 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-1.1); group 3, 1.04 (95% CI, 0.74-1.47). The incidence of CMV disease and CMV-related mortality was not significantly different between the groups. Thus, high-dose acyclovir does not appear to improve survival when ganciclovir is given either at engraftment or for CMV pp65 antigenemia.
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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important pathogen in transplant recipients and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. Major progress has been made in developing quantitative detection methods for CMV in recent years. Due to their high sensitivity, these assays can detect CMV early, and quantitation may be useful in predicting the patient's risk for disease and in monitoring the effect of antiviral therapy. This review discusses methodological aspects of currently used quantitative assays for CMV (i.e., viral culture techniques, antigen detection assays, DNA detection assays including PCR, branched-DNA assay, and the DNA hybrid capture assay) and addresses the correlation of systemic and site-specific CMV load and CMV disease in different populations of immunosuppressed patients as well as the response to antiviral treatment. To date, direct antigen detection and molecular techniques have largely replaced traditional culture-based techniques for CMV quantitation. In general, a high systemic CMV load is correlated with CMV disease. This correlation is strong in the HIV-infected population and in solid-organ transplant recipients but less clear in allogeneic marrow transplant recipients. Measuring the viral load at specific anatomic sites may be an alternative way to assess disease activity in situations where the systemic viral load correlates poorly with disease activity. A reduction of the systemic CMV load also correlates with a response to antiviral treatment, but more research is needed to evaluate the role of viral load as a surrogate marker for drug resistance. Due to the widespread use of quantitative CMV detection techniques to direct and monitor antiviral treatment, there is a great need for an assessment of the reproducibility of test results and better standardization of the assays.
To determine risk factors, frequency, time patterns, and outcome of ganciclovir-related neutropenia in allogeneic marrow transplant recipients, 278 consecutive patients receiving ganciclovir from engraftment until day 100 were studied. In this cohort, 159 patients (57%) had absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) less than 1,500/microL, 112 (41%) had an ANC less than 1,000/microL, 87 (31%) less than 750/microL, and 56 (21%) less than 500/microL for at least 2 consecutive days. Statistically significant risk factors for neutropenia in a Cox model were low marrow cellularity between day 21 and 28 (relative risk [RR] 2.4, P = .0002), hyperbilirubinemia > or =6 mg/dL during the first 20 days (RR 2.5, P = .0001), and elevation of serum creatinine > or =2 mg/dL after day 21 after transplant (RR 2.1, P = .001). Restriction to factors present at engraftment resulted in a similar model with low marrow cellularity, hyperbilirubinemia > or =6 mg/dL, and elevated serum creatinine as significant risk factors. Patients with no risk factor had an incidence of neutropenia of 21%, an incidence of 31% for one risk factor, and of 57% for two or more risk factors (RR 3.8, P = .001). Neutropenia was a negative predictor of overall (RR 2.0, P = .0001) and event-free survival (RR 2.1, P < .0001), and a predictor of relapse (RR 1.7, P = .03) and nonrelapse mortality (RR 2.1, P = .003). Thus, early liver dysfunction, elevated serum creatinine, and low marrow cellularity are risk factors for ganciclovir-related neutropenia. Neutropenia in ganciclovir recipients after marrow transplantation is an independent risk factor for mortality.
A retrospective analysis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) genotype was conducted on 281 CMV isolates obtained from marrow transplant recipients. The genotyping was based on sequence variations in the gene encoding envelope glycoprotein B (gB) as detected by restriction analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified gB DNA. Among all isolates studied, the distribution of gB types 1-4 was 48.4%, 16.4%, 24.6%, and 8.2%, respectively, with only 2.5% of all isolates containing more than one gB type. The association of gB types with acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) and death related to myelosuppression was examined using appropriate multivariable regression models. Covariables in addition to gB type included underlying disease type, donor-recipient HLA matching, donor CMV serostatus, and age as a continuous variable. Death associated with myelosuppression occurred in 2.9% or 4 of 136 patients with gB1, 0% or 0 of 46 patients with gB2, 21.7% or 15 of 69 patients with gB3, and 17.4% or four of 23 patients with gB4. The significant association of CMV gB type with death due to myelosuppression was maintained in a multivariable analysis (P < .001). In addition, the data also suggested that gB types 3 and 4 may be associated with a reduced hazard of grades II to IV acute GVHD.
In a prospective longitudinal study, detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in plasma (plasma polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) was compared with PCR of CMV DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL PCR), the CMV pp65 antigenemia assay, and viral cultures from blood, urine, and throat of 29 patients, 14 of whom received pp65 antigenemia-guided early ganciclovir treatment and 15 of whom received ganciclovir at engraftment. Among 328 blood samples tested by all methods, PBL PCR was the most sensitive test, followed by the pp65 antigenemia assay, plasma PCR, and viremia. In the 14 patients who received pp65 antigenemia-guided early treatment, the incidence of PBL PCR, pp65 antigenemia, plasma PCR, and viremia before day 100 was 79%, 79%, 71%, and 27%, respectively, with a median day of onset of day 32, 42, 45, and 51, respectively. Nine patients (64%) became positive by PBL PCR, pp65 antigenemia, and plasma PCR. Of 15 patients who were treated with ganciclovir at engraftment, 12 (80%) became positive by PBL PCR, plasma PCR, and/or pp65 antigenemia while receiving ganciclovir; 3 (20%) had breakthrough infection with all three methods, including 2 with high-grade antigenemia (more than three positive cells in duplicate staining); none of these patients subsequently developed positive CMV cultures or disease. In 49 specimens, PBL PCR and/or pp65 antigenemia assay could not be performed because of insufficient neutrophil counts. In conclusion, the sensitivity of plasma PCR is significantly lower than that of PBL PCR but similar to that of the pp65 antigenemia assay. Plasma PCR may be particularly useful in clinical situations in which a less sensitive and possibly more specific assay is warranted or in which leukocyte counts are inadequate to perform cell-based assays.
Patients with a lymphohematopoietic malignancy considered to be at high risk for posttransplant relapse were enrolled in a study to compare the use of cyclosporine (CSP) as a single agent with a combination of methylprednisolone (MP) and CSP for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis after marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor. Sixty patients were randomized to receive CSP only and 62 were randomized to receive CSP plus MP. Daily CSP was started on day -1 (5 mg/kg/d intravenously) and administered at gradually reduced doses until day 180. MP was started on day 7 at 0.5 mg/kg/d, increased to 1.0 mg/kg/d on day 15, started on a taper schedule on day 29, and discontinued on day 72. All 104 evaluable patients (surviving > or =28 days) had sustained engraftment. The incidence rates of grades II-IV acute GVHD were 73% and 60% for patients receiving CSP and CSP plus MP, respectively (P = .01). No difference was seen for grades III-IV GVHD. However, chronic GVHD occurred somewhat more frequently in patients receiving CSP plus MP (44%) than in patients receiving only CSP (21%; P = .02). The incidence of de novo chronic GVHD was marginally higher in patients receiving CSP plus MP (P = .08). No significant differences in the risk of infections were observed. There was a suggestion that the risk of relapse was lower in patients receiving CSP plus MP (P = .10) and, although the overall survival in the two groups was not different (P = .44), there was a slight advantage in favor of CSP plus MP-treated patients for relapse-free survival (P = .07). These results suggest that prophylactic MP, when combined with CSP, has only limited efficacy in acute GVHD prevention and may increase the probability of chronic GVHD.
BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to describe the incidence, clinical course, and risk factors for the idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS), compared with those previously described for "idiopathic pneumonia," after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). METHODS: Our study design was a case-series review with determination of risk by comparison with unaffected controls by log-rank or Fisher's exact (two-tailed) test and logistic regression analyses. The study group comprised 1165 consecutive marrow recipients at a single center from 1988 to 1991. RESULTS: IPS was documented in 85 BMT recipients (7.3%) by bronchoalveolar lavage (n=68), open lung biopsy (n=3), or autopsy (n=14). The calculated actuarial incidence for IPS within 120 days after BMT was 7.7%. Median time to onset was 21 days (mean 34+/-30). Hospital mortality was 74%, and 53 BMT recipients (62%) died with progressive respiratory failure. IPS resolved in 22 patients (26%); 18 patients (21%) survived to discharge. Mechanical ventilation was required by 59 BMT recipients (69%), within a median of 2 days of onset of infiltrates. Two of these 59 recipients (3%) survived to discharge. Pulmonary infection (predominantly fungal) was noted in 7 of 25 (28%) BMT recipients who had an autopsy. Potential risk factors for IPS were assessed in univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Although the incidence was not significantly different between autologous (5.7%) and allogeneic marrow recipients (7.6%), risks were identified only for the latter: malignancy other than leukemia (odds ratio=6.5 compared with aplastic anemia), and grade 4 graft-versus-host disease (odds ratio=5.4 compared with lower grades). No factors were associated with recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of idiopathic lung injury seems lower, the onset earlier, and the risk factors different from those previously reported. The major risks seem to be regimen-related toxicity and multi-organ dysfunction associated with alloreactive processes.
Circulating cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected endothelial cells (CCIC) have been found in immunocompromised patients with CMV disease and have been associated with disease severity. The frequency of CCIC in marrow transplant recipients was studied to determine its use for distinguishing between CMV pneumonia and asymptomatic CMV infection. CCIC were found in 13 (81%) of 16 patients with CMV pneumonia (5/6 without copathogen; 7/10 with copathogen) and in 10 (50%) of 20 patients with asymptomatic CMV antigenemia at different levels. There was no statistically significant association for the incidence nor the quantitative level of CCIC in patients with asymptomatic CMV antigenemia, CMV pneumonia with or without copathogen, or different levels of CMV virus load measured by antigenemia. The high incidence and quantitative level of CCIC in patients without clinical disease suggests a role for CCIC in CMV dissemination rather than its being a specific marker of organ or tissue damage after marrow transplantation.
Little information is available regarding the incidence, clinical course, and response to treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease that occurs before engraftment in marrow transplant recipients. We identified 25 patients over a 12.5 year period who developed CMV disease before achieving engraftment. Twelve cases were diagnosed during life, and 13 cases were diagnosed at autopsy. The lung was the site most commonly involved (92% of patients), and most of the patients (92%) were CMV seropositive. Significant copathogens were identified in 45% of the patients. All nine patients with CMV pneumonia died within 6 weeks after the diagnosis was made, and one of two patients with gastrointestinal disease also died 6 weeks after the diagnosis was made despite the administration of antiviral therapy. Surveillance cultures were not helpful in identifying patients at risk for disease. Histopathological examination of the lungs of patients with early CMV pneumonia only infrequently showed typical CMV lesions. In conclusion, CMV disease occurring before engraftment in CMV-seropositive recipients was uncommon, was frequently associated with the presence of other opportunistic pathogens, and was associated with a high fatality rate. Better diagnostic methods to identify patients at risk are required in the preengraftment period.
To determine whether cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemiaguided ganciclovir treatment may be as effective, may require less treatment, and thus may cause less marrow toxicity than ganciclovir administered at engraftment, 226 marrow transplant recipients were randomized at engraftment to receive placebo (antigenemia-ganciclovir group) or ganciclovir (ganciclovir group) until day 100 in a double-blind study. In patients with antigenemia of 3 or more positive cells in 2 slides and/or viremia, study drug was discontinued and ganciclovir was started for at least 3 weeks or until negative CMV antigenemia and resumed only if antigenemia recurred. More patients in the antigenemia-ganciclovir group developed CMV disease before day 100 after transplantation compared with the ganciclovir group (14% v 2.7%, P = .002). Of the 16 patients with CMV disease before day 100 in the antigenemia-ganciclovir group, 10 (8.8%) had disease before or during the first episode of antigenemia and 6 (5.3%) developed disease after discontinuation of ganciclovir. Untreated low-grade antigenemia progressed to CMV disease in 19% of patients with grade 3-4 compared with 0% of patients with grade 0-2 acute graft-versus-host disease (P = .04). There was no significant difference in CMV disease by day 180 after transplantation and thereafter. CMV-related death, transplant survival, and neutropenia were not significantly different between the groups. In the ganciclovir group, more invasive fungal infections occurred (P = .03) and more ganciclovir was used (P < .0001). Thus, delaying the start of ganciclovir until highgrade antigenemia and discontinuing ganciclovir based on negative antigenemia results in more CMV disease by day 100 than ganciclovir administered at engraftment. However, ganciclovir at engraftment is associated with more early invasive fungal infections and more late CMV disease resulting in similar survival rates.
This case report describes a bone marrow transplant recipient in whom hepatic zygomycosis developed after ingestion of multiple naturopathic medicines. Mucor was isolated from the patient's liver aspirate and from one of the naturopathic medicines. Arbitrary-primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses were performed on the Mucor isolates from the patient's liver aspirate and from his naturopathic medicine to see if they were genotypically related. Mucor indicus was the species identified in both the patient's liver aspirate and the naturopathic medicine. Arbitrary-primed PCR analysis revealed that these isolates were genotypically identical. We conclude that this bone marrow transplant recipient acquired hepatic mucormycosis from ingestion of a naturopathic medicine containing Mucor.
In a prospective study, the cytomegalovirus (CMV) pp65 antigenemia assay was compared with detection of CMV by blood culture in 67 consecutive CMV-seropositive patients undergoing autologous marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Antigenemia occurred in 26 patients (38.8%) a median of 33 days (range, 12-74) after transplant. Viremia was detected in 5 patients (7.5%) a median of 30 days (range, 12-74) after transplant and was treated with ganciclovir in 3. Antigenemia occurred sporadically at low levels (< 5 positive cells/slide) in 19 patients (28.4%) and never resulted in CMV disease. Two of 7 patients who presented with or progressed to antigenemia of > 5 positive cells/slide developed fatal CMV pneumonia 8 days later. Neither patient had CMV viremia before onset of pneumonia. Thus, quantitative CMV pp65 antigenemia may be useful in guiding antiviral treatment in seropositive autograft recipients.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia was evaluated in 174 patients positive for human immunodeficiency virus. Antigenemia could be detected in 96.7% of patients with CMV disease, 76.9% of patients suffering from a relapse of the disease, and 11.4% of asymptomatic patients with CD4 levels of < 100 cells per microliter. No antigenemia was detected in patients with CD4 levels of 250 to 500 cells per microliter. Specificity and the positive predictive value for CMV disease were increased only if more than 5 positive cells per slide were considered. However, CMV disease may also occur in patients with low-grade antigenemia.
The CMV Brite antigenemia kit was compared with culture and an established cytomegalovirus pp65 antigenemia assay (CMV AG). Of 300 clinical specimens tested, 92 were positive by CMV Brite, 83 were positive by CMV AG, and 34 were positive by culture. Discrepancies could be attributed to anticytomegalovirus therapy or low-level antigenemia.
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