Table 12.
Potential common pathogens which cause infection in xenotransplant recipients.
| Origin | Pathogens | Risk | Recipient testing assays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donor | Virus | PERV | Unknown | QNAT, Ab-based tests* |
| PCMV | Known (NHP) | NAT, Ab-based tests* | ||
| PLHV | Unknown | QNAT | ||
| HEV | Known (human) | NAT | ||
| PCV | Unknown | NAT | ||
| Recipient | Virus | CMV | Known | QNAT, histopathology |
| VZV | NAT, DFA | |||
| HSV | Clinical, NAT, culture, Tzanck smear, histopathology | |||
| EBV | QNAT, histopathology | |||
| BKV | QNAT, histopathology | |||
| HPV | Histopathology, speculum examination, cervical pap test with NAT | |||
| Fungus | Candida species | Culture, histopathology | ||
| Aspergillus species | BAL galactomannan, BAL NAT, chest CT, culture | |||
| Cryptococcus species | Lateral flow assay over latex agglutination assay, culture, imaging of lung and CNS | |||
| Pneumocystis jiroveci | Chest radiograph, serum lactic dehydrogenase, serum (1 → 3) β-d-glucan assay, sputum examination, direct immunofluorescent staining, histopathology | |||
| Parasite | Strongyloides stercoralis | Parasitological or molecular tests of stool, lower respiratory or affected body fluids/tissues samples | ||
Abbreviations: Ab: antibody, BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage, BKV: BK polyomavirus, CMV: Cytomegalovirus, CNS: central nervous system, CT: computed tomography, DFA: direct fluorescent-antibody, EBV: Epstein-Barr virus, HEV: hepatitis E virus, HPV: human papilloma virus, HSV: herpes simplex virus, NAT: nucleic acid testing, NHP: non-human primate, PCMV: porcine cytomegalovirus, PCV: porcine circovirus, PERV: porcine endogenous retrovirus, PLHV: porcine lymphotropic herpes virus, QNAT: quantitative nucleic acid testing, VZV: varicella-zoster virus, *Antibody-based tests include serology, ELIZA, and western blot.