High seroprevalence of CMV among Algerian hemodialysis patients and the general population: Intermediate-risk patients for post-transplant CMV infection

Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus of the herpesviridae family. CMV infection is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised subjects such as hemodialysis patients and transplant recipients. The aim of our study was to determine the serological status of potential kidney recipients and donors in order to assess the risk of post-transplant CMV infection and disease.

Patients and methods: We included 135 and 200 potential kidney transplant donors and recipients, respectively, who were tested for anti-CMV IgM and IgG by chemiluminescence on IMMULITE 2000 XPI®.

Results: The prevalence of anti-CMV IgG was 95.50 % (95 % CI [92.63 %-98.37 %]) in hemodialysis patients and 96.30 % (95 % CI [93.12 %-99.48 %]) in potential kidney donors. The difference between the two groups was not significant (p = 0.721). Anti-CMV IgM were only detected in the sera of 13 hemodialysis patients and 3 healthy subjects. In both groups, the highest rate of anti-CMV IgG positivity was observed in subjects aged over 50 years (100 %), followed by those aged between 18 and 30 years old, with a slightly higher seroprevalence in men than in women.

Conclusion: Our results suggest a high prevalence of anti-CMV IgG in potential kidney donors and recipients (D+/R+), who could be classified as an intermediate risk group for post-transplant CMV infection and/or disease.