Screening of chronic renal failure patients for cytomegalovirus antibodies before and after hemodialysis

ABSTRACT

60 chronic renal failure patients have been screened for the presence of Ig[G] and Ig[M] cytomegalovirus [CMV] antibodies, before and after hemodialysis using the ELISA test. Before deciding hemodialysis as a treatment for these patients [predialysis], 45 patients [75%] were seropositive for CMV Ig[G] antibodies, while only 3 patients [5%] were seropositive for CMV Ig[M] antibodies which may be due to recent infection before starting diaIysis. After patients have been on the hemodialysis treatment, 10 of them [16.6%] proved seropositive for CMV Ig[M] antibodies, so 7 cases developed these antibodies post-dialysis in addition to the already 3 positive pre-dialysis cases previously recorded. Four patients of the 60 studied cases [6.6%] were seropositive only for CMV Ig[G] antibodies before hemodialysis treatment, and became positive for CMV Ig[M] after dialysis, which may indicate either reactivation of endogenous CMV infection or development of a new recent Infection. These results mean, in a way, that screening of patients before undergoing hemodialysis is of importance to lower the incidence of machine or blood transfusion transmitted CMV infection. Also pre and post dialysis serum sampling for CMV Ig[M] antibodies is essential for discrimination between recent infection and or reactivation of endogenous infection