Elevation of cytomegalovirus antigenemia predicts serious infection and death in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapies for autoimmune diseases.

AIM: We examined the relationship between cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation and serious infections.

METHOD: We conducted a single-center retrospective chart review study with 43 autoimmune disease patients experiencing CMV reactivation. We investigated the risk factors for serious infections among the patients using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

We identified that the maximum count of CMV antigenemia during the course of infection (CMV Ag MAX) was significantly associated with serious infection by multivariate analysis (adjusted odds ratio: 1.509; 95% confidence interval: 1.071-2.125). The receiver operating characteristic curve of CMV Ag MAX count showed a predictive value for serious infections (76.9% in sensitivity and 93.3% in specificity) and death (83.3% in sensitivity and 91.9% in specificity), and the cut-off count of serious infections and death was 6 and 10 per 105 white blood cell count, respectively.

CONCLUSION

We suggest that the counts of CMV Ag MAX can reflect the extent of compromise in the immune system, and can be a predictive marker for serious infections and death.