The aim of this study was to characterize circulating DCs and plasma cytokine levels in immunocompetent patients with primary, symptomatic CMV infections.
The study population consisted of 14 patients suffering of CMV mononucleosis and 14 healthy volunteers (11 CMV-seropositive and 3 CMV-seronegative subjects) included as controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and used to characterize DCs and to quantify CMV in the blood. Plasma levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were also measured.
We observed that patients who were developing CMV mononucleosis presented lower myeloid and plasmacytoid DC counts in peripheral blood compared with healthy controls. We also noted elevated levels of inflammatory mediators, of which tumor necrosis factor-伪 (TNF-伪)鈥攚hich activates DCs and endothelial cells鈥攚as the highest. Notably, the decrease in blood DCs correlated with high TNF-伪 and IL-8 levels by a hyperbolic function.
Our results suggest that increased levels of inflammatory factors facilitate alterations in DC homeostasis during primary CMV infection, which may contribute to viral-induced modulation of host immunity.