Comparison of a rapid cytomegalovirus pp65 antigenemia assay revealed by immunofluorescence to an in-house assay revealed by immunoperoxidase for diagnosis in solid organ transplant recipient patients

• Main Authors: Emerson Carraro, Jacyr Pasternak, Ana Perosa, Itacy Siqueira, Marines Dalla Vale Martino
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2010-05-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1413867010700660

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia is still one of the two major assays available for diagnosis and monitoring of CMV infections. A commercial rapid test recently available in Brazil for quantification of human cytomegalovirus pp65 antigenemia revealed by immunofluorescence technique was compared with the original in-house method revealed by immunoperoxidase in patients receiving solid organ transplants. Of 80 blood samples tested for CMV antigenemia, 34 (42.5%) were positive: commercial assay detected 33 (97%) and in-house assay detected 20 (58.8%) samples. The numbers of positive cells in the two assays were different, with a median of 4.5 and 12 positive cells obtained by in-house and commercial kit, respectively. Discrepancies between assays occurred in 15 specimens from patients with low-grade antigenemia (median 6 positive cells). The assay-time was reduced in approximately 50% compared to in-house methodology. In conclusion, besides comparable results obtained for both assays, the commercial antigenemia assay provides more rapid and sensitive results. Keywords: cytomegalovirus, antigenemia assay, immmunoperoxidase, immunofluorescence