We thank Nickeleit et al.1 for their comment. In their response, they showed that newborn mice with murine polyomavirus (MPyV) IgG antibodies were protected against autologous MPyV infection and did not develop nephropathy, whereas naive animals exhibited very high plasma MPyV loads in plasma and tissue as well as morphologic signs of nephropathy.1 These results clearly show the role of the humoral response in protecting mice against severe polyomavirus infection.
In humans, the role of antibodies in controlling BK virus (BKV) infection has been obscured by the fact that traditional tests that have been used for previous serology studies do not differentiate between different BKV genotypes.2 Recently, Buck and colleagues3 developed a method using reporter pseudoviruses on the basis of individual representatives of the different BKV genotypes that provides an accurate measure of the BKV-specific antibody response. They showed that BKV genotypes represent distinct serotypes with respect to neutralizing antibody responses.4 Using this test, we were able to shed new light on the role of the humoral response against BKV infection and nephropathy in kidney transplantation.5 Similar results have recently been reported for another polyomavirus, the JC virus, that causes opportunistic brain disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).6 The authors showed that deficient humoral immunity is a common aspect of the pathogenesis of PML and that vaccination could stimulate and expand humoral immunity against JC virus, thus protecting individuals at risk from developing PML.6
Overall, these data provide strong evidence that strengthening the polyomavirus-specific humoral response by passive immunization or vaccination would be an effective antiviral preventive and/or therapeutic strategy.
Disclosures
None.
Footnotes
Published online ahead of print. Publication date available at www.jasn.org.
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