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. 2012 Dec 13;7(12):e50248. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050248

Figure 3. Specific HLA combinations influence the CMV-CTL levels.

Figure 3

(A) Median CMV-CTL levels in patients expressing only and monitored with HLA-A*0201 (filled circles) or HLA-B*0702 (filled squares) tetramers, respectively, were calculated and compared to the levels in patients expressing both alleles. The level of HLA-A0201 CMV-CTL (white circle) was significantly lower in patients expressing HLA-A0201 and –B0702 compared to those only expressing the A0201 allele (filled circles). No such difference was found for HLA-B0702-binding CTL levels between patients who only express the B0702 allele (filled square) or both A0201 and B0702 alleles (white squares). (B) The median numbers of CMV-CTLs detected by each tetramer were compared in all patients monitored with at least 2 different tetramers (n = 176/278). The analysis for one patient is shown as an example. The number of CMV-CTLs detected by each tetramer are plotted over time. CMV reactivation occurred on day +41 (spike in the pp65 line), triggering CMV-CTL expansion. HLA-B*0801 detected the highest numbers of CMV-CTLs until day +100 when a switch occurred. * p≤0.05.