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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, July 2006, p. 740-746, Vol. 13, No. 7
1071-412X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00139-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antibody Response to Cryptococcus neoformans Capsular Polysaccharide Glucuronoxylomannan in Patients after Solid-Organ Transplantation

Ziba Jalali,^1, Lucky Ng,^1, Nina Singh,³ and Liise-anne Pirofski^1,2*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York,¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York,² Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Infectious Diseases Section, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania³

Received 12 April 2006/ Returned for modification 15 May 2006/ Accepted 19 May 2006

Cryptococcosis is an important complication of solid-organ transplantation, but the risk factors for disease are poorly understood. The goal of this study was to investigate whether specific or nonspecific serum immunoglobulin levels determined in samples obtained before and after solid-organ transplantation differed in patients who did or did not develop cryptococcosis after transplantation. We analyzed pretransplantation sera from 25 subjects, 15 who subsequently developed cryptococcosis and 10 who did not, and posttransplantation sera from 24 subjects, 13 who developed cryptococcosis and 11 who did not. All subjects received a tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen. Total immunoglobulin levels were measured by immunodiffusion, and Cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM)-specific serum antibody levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The results showed that solid-organ transplantation had a significant effect on total immunoglobulin and GXM-reactive antibody levels. GXM-reactive antibody levels differed in subjects who did and did not develop cryptococcosis. In pretransplant serum samples, the levels of GXM-reactive immunoglobulin M (IgM) were significantly lower in subjects who developed cryptococcosis after transplantation than in those who did not. For posttransplant serum samples, the levels of GXM-reactive IgM and IgG were significantly higher among the subjects who developed cryptococcosis than among those who did not. These findings suggest that perturbations in the preexisting antibody or B-cell repertoire and/or related to treatment of rejection, transplantation, or immunosuppressive therapy could translate into an increased risk for transplant-associated cryptococcosis.

Present address: Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebr.

Present address: Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Datta, K., Lees, A., Pirofski, L.-a. (2008). Therapeutic Efficacy of a Conjugate Vaccine Containing a Peptide Mimotope of Cryptococcal Capsular Polysaccharide Glucuronoxylomannan. CVI 15: 1176-1187 [Abstract] [Full Text]