Long-term T-cell-mediated immunity to Epstein-Barr virus in renal-allograft recipients receiving cyclosporin A.

Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from renal-allograft patients receiving cyclosporin A (CSA) were tested for their ability to produce T cells cytotoxic for EB-virus-infected B-cell targets in culture and compared with those from healthy seropositive subjects. Whereas in the control cultures the proliferating foci of EB-virus-transformed B cells regressed after 2 weeks, no such regression was seen in cultures from CSA-treated patients. These results indicate that patients receiving CSA cannot mount a cytotoxic response to EB-virus-infected B cells in vitro. It is suggested that suppression of memory-T-cell proliferation contributes to the high incidence of lymphomas in CSA-treated renal-allograft recipients.