Skip to main content
PLOS One logoLink to PLOS One
. 2021 Apr 16;16(4):e0246118. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246118

No association of genetic variants in TLR4, TNF-α, IL10, IFN-γ, and IL37 in cytomegalovirus-positive renal allograft recipients with active CMV infection—Subanalysis of the prospective randomised VIPP study

Pascale Mazzola 1,2,#, Elke Schaeffeler 1,2,#, Oliver Witzke 3,, Martin Nitschke 4,, Volker Kliem 5,, Max Zortel 6, Eva-Maria Wagner 6, Matthias Schwab 1,2,7,*,#, Ingeborg A Hauser 8,¶,*,#
Editor: Michael Nevels9
PMCID: PMC8051780  PMID: 33861738

Abstract

Background

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is amongst the most important factors complicating solid organ transplantation. In a large prospective randomized clinical trial, valganciclovir prophylaxis reduced the occurrence of CMV infection and disease compared with preemptive therapy in CMV-positive renal allograft recipients (VIPP study; NCT00372229). Here, we present a subanalysis of the VIPP study, investigating single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in immune-response-related genes and their association with active CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia.

Methods

Based on literature research ten SNPs were analyzed for TLR4, three for IFN-γ, six for IL10, nine for IL37, and two for TNF-α. An asymptotic independence test (Cochran-Armitage trend test) was used to examine associations between SNPs and the occurrence of CMV infection or other negative outcomes. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05 and Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was performed.

Results

SNPs were analyzed on 116 blood samples. No associations were found between the analyzed SNPs and the occurrence of CMV infection, rejection and leukopenia in all patients. For IL37 rs2723186, an association with CMV disease (p = 0.0499), for IL10 rs1800872, with graft loss or death (p = 0.0207) and for IL10 rs3024496, with infections (p = 0.0258) was observed in all patients, however did not hold true after correction for multiple testing.

Conclusion

The study did not reveal significant associations between the analyzed SNPs and the occurrence of negative outcomes in CMV-positive renal transplant recipients after correction for multiple testing. The results of this association analysis may be of use in guiding future research efforts.

Introduction

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most important serious viral infection that complicates solid organ transplantation [1]. CMV infection can result in CMV disease, which, in severe cases, may lead to hospitalization, morbidity and death [2]. In addition, CMV infection has been associated with secondary effects on the immune system, predisposing patients to opportunistic infections [3, 4], diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and graft loss [5, 6]. Renal transplant recipients without immunity against CMV (R−), who receive an organ from a CMV-positive donor (D+), are at the highest risk of developing CMV disease. Renal transplant recipients with immunity against CMV (R+) are at intermediate risk of active CMV infection [1]. Furthermore, severe organ-invasive CMV disease can also occur in R+ patients and be fatal [7].

Valganciclovir, a valyl ester prodrug of ganciclovir, is currently licensed for the prevention of CMV disease in high-risk (D+/R-) patients receiving a solid organ transplantation [8]. In the largest and longest valganciclovir randomized clinical trial reported to date (VIPP study), prophylaxis was compared with preemptive therapy in CMV R+ renal allograft recipients. The one-year and seven-year results showed that oral valganciclovir prophylaxis significantly reduced CMV infection and disease in intermediate-risk patients compared with preemptive therapy, particularly for CMV-positive donor and recipient (D+/R+) [9, 10]. However, incidences of long-term graft loss and death were similar in the valganciclovir prophylaxis and preemptive treatment groups [10].

Genetic variations in drug targets or in other points of targeted biosynthetic pathways may influence the drug response [1114]. In renal transplant recipients, polymorphisms in genes whose products are implicated in modulating the human immune response, such as toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) (Asp299Gly, Tyr399Ile) have been reported to be associated with more frequent serious infectious complications, including severe bacterial infections, CMV disease, and opportunistic infections [15]. Polymorphisms in interleukin (IL) 10 can contribute to CMV reactivation and disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation [16]. Interferon (IFN)-γ plays an important role in the immune response. A statistically significant correlation was found between the IFN-γ +874 A>T polymorphism and the risk of CMV infection among 247 Hispanic renal transplant recipients [17]. On the other hand, a protective role against CMV infection has been reported for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α polymorphisms that are associated with a strong inflammatory response [18]. Anti-inflammatory effects of IL37, a newer member of the IL1 family, were described in a mouse model: Transgenic mice expressing IL37 were protected from colitis [19].

As several studies indicated an association with the occurrence of infection or reported contradictory information about such an association with polymorphisms in TLR4, IFN-γ, IL10, IL37 or TNF-α, we analyzed, as part of the prospective VIPP study mentioned above, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CMV-positive renal allograft recipients.

Methods

Design

This project was conducted as a retrospective analysis of the data of the VIPP study, a randomized multicenter trial comparing CMV prophylaxis vs. preemptive therapy with valganciclovir in CMV-positive renal allograft recipients compared in 22 centers in Germany and in 2 centers in Austria. The study included a recruitment period of 29 months, a study phase of 12 months after transplantation, and a follow-up period of 6 years.

(NCT00372229) [9, 10]. Ten SNPs were selected for TLR4, three SNPs for IFN-γ, six SNPs for IL10, nine SNPs for IL37 and two SNPs for TNF-α. Associations between these genetic variants and the occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia were analyzed.

According to the VIPP study protocol, CMV Disease was defined as either biopsy or clinically proven tissue invasive disease or CMV syndrome with viremia >400 copies/ml with at least one of the following signs: fever of ≥ 38°C, severe malaise (toxicity grading ≥ 3), leucopenia on 2 successive measurements separated by at least 24 hours defined as (1) a white blood cell (WBC) count of <3,500/μL or (2) a WBC decrease of >20% if the WBC count prior to development of viremia is <4,000/μL, atypical lymphocytosis of ≥5%, thrombocytopenia defined as (1) a platelet count of <100,000/μL or (2) a decrease of >20% if the platelet count prior to development of viremia is <115,000/μL, elevation of hepatic transaminases (alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase to at least 2x ULN.

Population

All patients of the VIPP study were eligible for enrollment in this substudy. For inclusion, patients needed to fulfill the following criteria: written informed consent previously obtained for the VIPP study, enrollment in the VIPP main protocol, and written informed consent for the SNP analyses. There were no exclusion criteria. The protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Hannover Medical School, Nr. 4116M (Hanover, Germany).

Selection of genetic variants

Various criteria for the selection of SNPs which we considered in the substudy, were used: allele frequencies (>1%) extracted from the Genome Aggregation Database [gnomAD v2.1, http://gnomad.broadinstitute.org/], the location in the coding regions of genes, their clinical relevance [Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man/OMIM, www.omim.org/; ClinVar Short Variants, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/clinvar/; flagged by the SNP database, dbSNP, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/] as clinically associated), and PubMed records. S1 Table summarizes in detail the selection criteria for the 30 SNPs.

Blood sampling, DNA extraction, and genotyping

Blood samples could be obtained at any time during the VIPP study, including at scheduled blood sampling timepoints. The samples were frozen and stored at -20°C. The SNP analysis was performed in the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie (Stuttgart, Germany). Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood using the QIAamp DNA Blood BioRobot MDx Kit and the QIAamp DSP DNA Blood Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. DNA quality and concentration were assessed using the NanoDrop 1000 Spectrophotometer or the Qubit™ dsDNA BR Assay Kit and a Qubit Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wilmington, DE, United States). Genetic variants were genotyped by TaqMan technology using predesigned SNP Genotyping assays (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and the Applied Biosystems 7900HT Fast Real-Time PCR System (Thermo Fisher Scientific) according to the manufacturers’ protocols. SNPs were evaluated with Sequence Detection Software version 2.4 (SDS 2.4).

Statistical analysis

The study was planned for 200 patients. Exploratory analysis was done for all patients and for subgroups of patients receiving valganciclovir prophylaxis or preemptive treatment. Statistical analyses were performed using R version 3.3.2 [20] or SAS 9.4. Tests were two-sided and statistical significance was defined as p<0.05, but results should be interpreted descriptively. Pearson’s Chi-squared test was used to analyze associations between valganciclovir prophylaxis or preemptive treatment and the occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections (viral, bacterial, fungal and other non-CMV infections), and leukopenia. CMV infection was defined as CMV-PCR ≥400 CMV copies/mL from visit 2 (day 7) until follow-up visit 27, excluding unscheduled visits.

Associations between SNPs and the occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia were examined using an asymptotic independence test (Cochran-Armitage trend test). The trend tests were envisaged for n = 30 genetic variants and 6 endpoints in the overall cohort and two subgroups (prophylaxis and preemptive treatment). For two variants (IFN-γ rs2069723 and IL10 rs3024489), no nucleotide changes were observed in our cohort. Only two events occurred for CMV disease in the prophylaxis group. The effective number of tests was therefore determined as n = 476 (= 28*17), and the corresponding Bonferroni corrected significance level consequently as α* = 0.05/476 ≈ 0.00011. Odds-Ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using a logistic regression model as an association between genotypes and endpoints. Patients with missing data were excluded. Lower OR correspond to lower odds of seeing an event in the largest genotype group.

Haplotype analyses were performed with R-library haplo.stats [21]. Haplotypes were estimated separately for each gene, using all studied variants. Associations between haplotypes and the occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia were investigated using logistic regression and an additive genetic model. The minimal haplotype frequency for a haplotype to be included as a separate term in the regression model was set to 5%. Results with unusually large coefficients from the logistic regression fit (occurring for dependent variables with less than 15 events or haplotype frequencies close to 5% in treatment subgroup analyses) were considered as unreliable and therefore disregarded.

Results

Patients

Blood samples were collected between March 2009 and January 2014 within the VIPP study. In total, 117 of 299 patients provided blood samples for the analysis. The SNP analysis could be performed on 116 of these samples (Fig 1).

Fig 1. Disposition of patients and samples analyzed.

Fig 1

SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism; VIPP, ValgancIclovir Prophylaxis versus Preemptive therapy in cytomegalovirus-positive renal allograft recipients.

The patient characteristics are presented in Table 1. The samples were equally distributed between the prophylaxis and the preemptive treatment group (57 vs. 59 patients), with generally balanced demographic and clinical baseline characteristics. The mean age for all patients was 51.0 years, and more total male than female patients were included in the SNP analysis.

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline.

Characteristic All (n = 116) Prophylaxis (n = 57) Preemptive (n = 59)
Recipient age (years) 51.0 ± 12.4 49.5 ± 13.2 52.5 ± 11.5
Donor age (years)a 52.7 ± 14.7 52.3 ± 15.6 53.1 ± 13.9
Living donor, n (%) 12 (10.3) 8 (14.0) 4 (6.8)
Male sex, n (%) 76 (65.5) 41 (71.9) 35 (59.3)
Caucasian, n (%) 110 (94.8) 53 (93.0) 57 (96.6)
Body weight (kg)b 75.7 ± 14.6 77.0 ± 16.0 74.4 ± 13.2
Sensitization of recipients against donor antigensc (%) 1.0 ± 8.6 0.1 ± 0.6 1.9 ± 12.0
Hypertensiond, n (%) 87 (75.0) 46 (80.7) 41 (69.5)
Diabetes mellitusd, n (%) 13 (11.2) 7 (12.3) 6 (10.2)
Stratification for ATG/ALG, n (%) 3 (2.6) 2 (3.5) 1 (1.7)
Cold ischemia time (hours) 12.2 ± 6.8 11.9 ± 7.3 12.5 ± 6.3
HLA-A + B + DR mismatch 2.6 ± 1.5 2.6 ± 1.5 2.6 ± 1.6
Previous transplants, n (%)
    0 97 (83.6) 49 (86.0) 48 (81.4)
    1 19 (16.4) 8 (14.0) 11 (18.6)
Most frequent underlying kidney diseasese, n (%)
    Glomerulonephritis 24 (20.7) 7 (12.3) 17 (28.8)
    Adult polycystic kidney disease 14 (12.1) 9 (15.8) 5 (8.5)
    IgA nephropathy 19 (16.4) 9 (15.8) 10 (16.9)
    Diabetic glomerulosclerosis/nephropathy 6 (5.2) 3 (5.3) 3 (5.1)
    Others 33 (28.4) 16 (28.1) 17 (28.8)
CMV status donor/recipient, n (%)
    D+/R+ 65 (56.0) 37 (64.9) 28 (47.5)
    D-/R+ 51 (44.0) 20 (35.1) 31 (52.5)

Values are means ± standard deviation unless otherwise indicated.

aAll: n = 115, prophylaxis: n = 56, preemptive: n = 59, due to missing value

bAll: n = 115, prophylaxis: n = 57, preemptive: n = 58, due to missing value.

cEstimated by the actual panel-reactive antibody test. All: n = 83, prophylaxis: n = 41, preemptive: n = 42.

dPrevious or concomitant disease.

eOccurrence in ≥3% of all patients.

ALG, antilymphocyte globulin; ATG, antithymocyte globulin; CMV, cytomegalovirus; D/R, donor/recipient; HLA, human leukocyte antigen; IgA, immunoglobulin A.

Occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia in the prophylaxis versus preemptive treatment group

The proportion of patients with CMV infection and CMV disease was higher in the preemptive treatment group than in the valganciclovir prophylaxis group (CMV infection: 35.6% vs. 14.0%, p = 0.014, 29 events in total; CMV disease: 7.8% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.031, 11 events in total). For occurrence of graft loss or death (15 events), rejection (93 events), infections (85 events), and leukopenia (32 events), no remarkable differences were observed between both groups.

Frequencies of genetic variants in all patients

Ten SNPs were analyzed for TLR4, three SNPs for IFN-γ, six SNPs for IL10, nine SNPs for IL37 and two SNPs for TNF-α. Selected SNPs, genotype and allele frequencies for all patients are provided in the S2 Table. Genotype frequencies of all SNPs are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Association of genetic variants with CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia in all patients

P-values were >0.05 for all analyzed SNPs and the occurrence of CMV infection, rejection and leukopenia (Tables 2 and 3). For IL37 2723186, an association with CMV disease was observed (p = 0.0499, OR 3.59, 95% CI 0.36–35.82). IL10 rs1800872 was associated with graft loss or death (p = 0.0207, OR 3.04, 95% CI 1.08–8.61). For IL10 rs3024496, an association with infections was observed (p = 0.0258, OR 1.63, 95% CI 0.725–3.64). All significant results did not hold true after Bonferroni correction.

Table 2. Statistical analysis of the association between genetic variants and the clinical events CMV infection, CMV disease and infections in all patients, and in the prophylaxis and preemptive treatment group.

CMV infection CMV disease Infections
SNP Nucleotide change* All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value
n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n
TLR4_rs4986790 g.13843A>G 0.5118 0.3325 0.9157 0.2348 0.6330 0.2556 0.2838 0.8604 0.1022
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
TLR4_rs4986791 g.14143C>T 0.2925 0.3325 0.4407 0.2479 0.6330 0.2729 0.3801 0.8604 0.1149
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
TLR4_rs5030710 g.13262T>C 0.3102 NA§ 0.1901 0.5681 NA§ 0.4507 0.7721 NA§ 0.8037
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
TLR4_rs7869402 g.16573C>T 0.2587 0.6799 0.2638 0.5037 0.8446 0.4459 0.2795 0.5554 0.1199
29/113 8/55 21/58 11/113 2/55 9/58 83/113 41/55 42/58
TLR4_rs7873784 g.17477G>C 0.8143 0.5697 0.8880 0.7593 0.2799 0.7945 0.7328 0.7510 0.4875
28/112 8/55 20/57 11/112 2/55 9/57 83/112 42/55 41/57
TLR4_rs11536871 g.9039A>C 0.1123 0.3958 0.1901 0.3721 0.6866 0.4507 0.0559 0.2419 0.1138
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
TLR4_rs11536887 g.16215A>G 0.5545 0.6767 NA§ 0.7403 0.8431 NA§ 0.5527 0.5698 NA§
29/112 8/54 21/58 11/112 2/54 9/58 83/112 41/54 42/58
TLR4_rs11536889 g.16672G>C 0.3219 0.4372 0.8338 0.3320 0.3095 0.8106 0.0664 0.7817 0.0082
29/115 8/54 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
TLR4_rs11536891 g.17878T>C 0.7480 0.4831 0.9590 0.8002 0.4043 0.8706 0.7038 0.2430 0.5593
29/113 8/56 21/57 11/113 2/56 9/57 85/113 42/56 43/57
TLR4_rs11536892 g.18023G>A 0.5614 NA§ 0.4572 0.7439 NA§ 0.6687 0.0909 NA§ 0.0982
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
IFN-γ_rs2069707 g.4234C>G 0.8586 0.4224 0.6716 0.1676 1.0000 0.2966 0.8769 1.0000 0.9266
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 85/114 42/55 43/59
IFN-γ_rs2069723 g.9928A>G NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
IFN-γ_rs2430561 g.6000A>T 0.2821 0.1729 0.4540 0.2060 0.1610 0.3220 0.9635 0.2212 0.2839
29/114 8/57 21/57 11/114 2/57 9/57 83/114 42/57 41/57
IL10_rs1800871 g.4206T>C 0.2093 0.5349 0.1975 0.1460 0.2333 0.3130 0.1584 0.0771 0.8477
28/114 7/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
IL10_rs1800872 g.4433A>C 0.3458 0.6463 0.3710 0.2412 0.8784 0.2821 0.9756 0.9269 0.9377
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
IL10_rs1800894 g.4174G>A 0.8808 0.5288 0.7218 0.9591 0.6896 0.9474 0.1604 1.0000 0.0981
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
IL10_rs3024489 g.4596G>T NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§
29/113 8/54 21/59 11/113 2/54 9/59 84/113 41/54 43/59
IL10_rs3024496 g.8976T>C 0.2235 0.5353 0.3041 0.3293 0.7507 0.1778 0.0258ǁ 0.0111** 0.4730
28/112 7/53 21/59 11/112 2/53 9/59 84/112 53 43/59
IL10_rs3024498 g.9311A>G 0.7548 0.5481 0.8859 0.1761 0.3247 0.2349 0.8437 0.2454 0.1842
28/112 8/54 20/58 11/112 2/54 9/58 82/112 40/54 42/58
IL37_rs2708943 g.9162C>G 0.9678 0.5417 0.4388 0.6971 0.0178†† 0.4969 0.4886 0.2249 0.8664
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
IL37_rs2708947 g.10672T>C 0.8902 0.7045 0.6878 0.5946 0.0381‡‡ 0.6121 0.9563 0.7867 0.8221
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
IL37_rs2723171 g.3256G>C 0.9829 0.7045 0.5264 0.6671 0.0381§§ 0.5285 0.9150 0.7867 0.9898
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
IL37_rs2723183 g.9174A>G 0.9243 0.7192 0.6563 0.6136 0.0404¶¶ 0.5963 0.9911 0.7690 0.8511
29/113 8/55 21/58 11/113 2/55 9/58 83/113 41/55 42/58
IL37_rs2723186 g.9533A>G 0.5303 0.1003 0.4572 0.0499ǁǁ 0.00004*** 0.6687 0.5285 0.9711 0.0982
29/113 8/54 21/59 11/113 2/54 9/59 84/113 41/54 43/59
IL37_rs2723187 g.9722C>T 0.8549 0.7192 0.4388 0.7640 0.0404††† 0.4969 0.7909 0.7690 0.8664
29/114 8/55 21/49 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
IL37_rs2723192 g.10834G>A 0.9071 0.7192 0.6878 0.6041 0.0404‡‡‡ 0.6121 0.9736 0.7690 0.8221
29/114 8/55 21/59 11/114 2/55 9/59 84/114 41/55 43/59
IL37_rs3811046 g.5831G>T 0.5652 0.0651 0.4636 0.7663 0.0573 0.4726 0.9074 1.0000 0.8627
29/114 8/56 21/58 11/114 2/56 9/58 84/114 42/56 42/58
IL37_rs3811047 g.5863A>G 0.5859 0.1348 0.5817 0.6982 0.0431§§§ 0.4726 0.9680 0.8275 0.8627
29/112 8/54 21/58 11/112 2/54 9/58 82/112 40/54 42/58
TNF-α_rs1800629 g.4682G>A 0.3230 0.8424 0.2298 0.4078 0.6703 0.4270 0.4372 0.1185 0.6212
29/115 8/56 21/59 11/115 2/56 9/59 85/115 42/56 43/59
TNF-α_rs3093665 g.7042A>C 0.4821 0.3910 0.8793 0.8220 0.7183 0.7869 0.3160 0.2721 0.6741
29/108 8/51 21/57 11/108 2/51 9/57 78/108 37/51 41/57

NA, not applicable; preem., preemptive; proph., prophylaxis; SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism, Odds ratio (OR), 95% Confidence interval (CI). Asymptotic Cochran-Armitage trend test was used.

P-values <0.05 in bold. All p-values were >0.00011 (Bonferroni correction for multiple testing).

*Nucleotide change refers to the coding reference sequence.

Number of patients with an event and total number of patients included for the statistical analysis.

Due to the low numbers of CMV disease events in the prophylaxis group (only two events) Bonferroni correction was not performed.

§NA since all patients of this study-group carrying the same genotype.

OR 0.194, 95% CI 0.055–0.69.

ǁOR 1.625, 95% CI 0.725–3.64.

**OR 6.73, 95% CI 1.61–28.20.

††OR 16.67, 95% CI 0.824–337.01.

‡‡OR 12.50, 95% CI 0.652–239.54.

§§OR 12.50, 95% CI 0.652–239.54.

¶¶OR 12.25, 95% CI 0.639–234.82.

ǁǁOR 3.591, 95% CI 0.36–35.823.

***OR 50.99, 95% CI 2.40-Inf.

†††OR 12.25, 95% CI 0.639–234.82.

‡‡‡OR 12.25, 95% CI 0.639–234.82.

§§§OR 12.23, 95% CI 0.728–205.42.

¶¶¶OR 12.25, 95% CI 0.639–234.82.

Table 3. Statistical analysis of the association between genetic variants and the clinical events graft loss or death, rejection and leukopenia in all patients, and in the prophylaxis and preemptive treatment group.

Graft loss or death Rejection Leukopenia
SNP Nucleotide change* All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value All p-value Proph. p-value Preem. p-value
n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n n/n
TLR4_rs4986790 g.13843A>G 0.1571 0.2769 0.3673 0.5827 0.3479 0.9792 0.5624 0.2009 0.6018
15/114 9/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 30/114 18/55 12/59
TLR4_rs4986791 g.14143C>T 0.1858 0.3105 0.3845 0.7259 0.3479 0.6387 0.3705 0.2427 0.8136
14/114 8/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 31/114 19/55 12/59
TLR4_rs5030710 g.13262T>C 0.4967 NA§ 0.5497 0.3933 NA§ 0.2993 0.2863 NA§ 0.3690
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
TLR4_rs7869402 g.16573C>T 0.4816 0.0225 0.5457 0.3167 0.6999 0.2935 0.2315 0.4815 0.3895
15/113 9/55 6/58 91/113 48/55 43/58 29/113 18/55 11/58
TLR4_rs7873784 g.17477G>C 0.8773 0.7021 0.6268 0.6470 0.8288 0.5792 0.1445 0.2019 0.4641
14/112 8/55 6/57 91/112 49/55 42/57 31/112 19/55 12/57
TLR4_rs11536871 g.9039A>C 0.2130 0.6278 0.1730 0.5211 0.4444 0.7467 0.4556 0.7323 0.3690
15/114 9/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 30/114 18/55 12/59
TLR4_rs11536887 g.16215A>G 0.6928 0.6517 NA§ 0.6194 0.6969 NA 0.5435 0.4754 NA§
15/112 9/54 6/58 90/112 47/54 43/58 30/112 18/54 12/58
TLR4_rs11536889 g.16672G>C 0.5181 0.7263 0.1447 0.6640 0.8560 0.4153 0.6681 0.4579 0.1477
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
TLR4_rs11536891 g.17878T>C 0.3996 0.1329 0.6632 0.7048 0.2297 0.6611 0.1233 0.1413 0.5120
15/113 9/56 6/57 91/113 49/56 42/57 31/113 19/56 12/57
TLR4_rs11536892 g.18023G>A 0.6973 NA§ 0.7343 0.6252 NA§ 0.5559 0.5418 NA§ 0.6103
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
IFN-γ_rs2069707 g.4234C>G 0.9427 0.1765 0.0862 0.1987 0.1336 0.0401ǁ 0.4485 1.0000 0.1149
15/114 9/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 31/114 19/55 12/59
IFN-γ_rs2069723 g.9928A>G NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§
14/114 8/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 31/114 19/55 12/59
IFN-γ_rs2430561 g.6000A>T 0.6879 0.8932 0.5563 0.4006 0.1729 0.8859 0.3261 0.6566 0.0764
15/114 9/57 6/57 93/114 49/57 44/57 32/114 20/57 12/57
IL10_rs1800871 g.4206T>C 0.0767 0.1002 0.4236 0.3383 0.3043 0.5898 0.3098 0.5911 0.3769
15/114 9/55 6/59 93/114 49/55 44/59 31/114 19/55 12/59
IL10_rs1800872 g.4433A>C 0.0207** 0.0037†† 0.5812 0.5464 0.9521 0.3547 0.1966 0.2831 0.5966
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
IL10_rs1800894 g.4174G>A 0.6273 0.3638 0.1359 0.5100 0.4328 0.8595 0.4999 0.6955 0.1707
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
IL10_rs3024489 g.4596G>T NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§ NA§
15/113 9/54 6/59 91/113 47/54 44/59 30/113 18/54 12/59
IL10_rs3024496 g.8976T>C 0.3191 0.2406 0.9144 0.9153 0.3403 0.4156 0.1309 0.1489 0.4811
15/112 9/53 6/59 90/112 46/53 44/59 28/112 16/53 12/59
IL10_rs3024498 g.9311A>G 0.1424 0.1244 0.6925 0.6220 0.3501 0.9062 0.9558 0.5622 0.5521
15/112 9/54 6/58 91/112 48/54 43/58 29/112 17/54 12/58
IL37_rs2708943 g.9162C>G 0.4101 0.6278 0.2350 0.5603 0.4277 0.5214 0.6515 0.0613 0.7474
15/114 9/55 6/59 92/114 48/55 44/59 30/114 18/55 12/59
IL37_rs2708947 g.10672T>C 0.4316 0.8021 0.2430 0.4262 0.3758 0.2454 0.5506 0.1970 0.9767
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
IL37_rs2723171 g.3256G>C 0.3845 0.8021 0.2160 0.5200 0.3758 0.3556 0.6766 0.1970 0.8438
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
IL37_rs2723183 g.9174A>G 0.4180 0.8177 0.2377 0.3875 0.3705 0.1976 0.5228 0.1728 0.9528
15/113 9/55 6/58 93/113 49/55 44/58 30/113 18/55 12/58
IL37_rs2723186 g.9533A>G 0.4525 0.4538 0.7343 0.3450 0.5180 0.5559 0.5586 0.5537 0.6103
15/113 9/54 6/59 91/113 47/54 44/59 30/113 18/54 12/59
IL37_rs2723187 g.9722C>T 0.3672 0.8177 0.2350 0.2830 0.3705 0.1880 0.8345 0.2093 0.7474
15/114 9/55 6/59 93/114 49/55 44/59 31/114 19/55 12/59
IL37_rs2723192 g.10834G>A 0.4248 0.8177 0.2430 0.4378 0.3705 0.2454 0.5078 0.1728 0.9767
15/114 9/55 6/59 93/114 49/55 44/59 30/114 18/55 12/59
IL37_rs3811046 g.5831G>T 0.2698 0.9411 0.0920 0.6565 0.5657 0.9233 0.3573 0.7309 0.3060
15/114 9/56 6/58 92/114 49/56 43/58 31/114 19/56 12/58
IL37_rs3811047 g.5863A>G 0.1517 0.6574 0.0920 0.9456 0.8885 0.9233 0.4533 0.9559 0.3060
15/112 9/54 6/58 91/112 48/54 43/58 29/112 17/54 12/58
TNF-α_rs1800629 g.4682G>A 0.2792 0.1927 0.9536 0.5649 0.3068 0.9196 0.3672 0.8167 0.2299
15/115 9/56 6/59 93/115 49/56 44/59 31/115 19/56 12/59
TNF-α_rs3093665 g.7042A>C 0.2378 0.4085 0.4220 0.6799 0.5145 0.4669 0.9505 0.2274 0.2766
15/108 9/51 6/57 87/108 45/51 42/57 28/108 16/51 12/57

*Nucleotide change refers to the coding reference sequence.

Number of patients with an event and total number of patients included for the statistical analysis.

Due to the low numbers of CMV disease events in the prophylaxis group (only two events) Bonferroni correction was not performed.

§NA since all patients of this study-group carrying the same genotype.

OR Inf, 95% CI 0-Inf.

ǁOR 0.201, 95% CI 0.039–1.035.

**OR 3.043, 95% CI 1.076–8.61.

††OR 5.342, 95% CI 1.331–21.45.

Association of genetic variants with the occurrence of events in the prophylaxis versus preemptive treatment group

Associations of SNPs with the occurrence of CMV infection, CMV disease, graft loss or death, rejection, infections, and leukopenia were also investigated in the prophylaxis and preemptive treatment group. In the prophylaxis group, TLR4 rs7869402 and IL10 rs1800872 were associated with the occurrence of graft loss or death (p = 0.0255, OR Inf., 95% CI 0-Inf. and p = 0.0037, OR 5.34, 95% CI 1.33–21.45), and IL10_rs3024496 was associated with infections (p = 0.0111, OR 6.73, 95% CI 1.61–28.2) (Tables 2 and 3). Additionally, in the prophylaxis group, associations with CMV disease were observed for nearly all analyzed IL37 SNPs. However, only two CMV disease events were observed in this subgroup. In the preemptive group, we found associations with infections for TLR4 rs11536889 (p = 0.0082, OR 0.194, 95% CI 0.055–0.693) and with rejection for IFN-γ rs2069707 (p = 0.201, 95% OR 0.039–1.035). Again, all significant results did not hold true after Bonferroni correction. For all other investigated SNPs and events, p-values were >0.05.

Association of haplotypes with the occurrence of events in all patients and the prophylaxis versus preemptive treatment group

In all patients, nominal significant differences between the most frequent haplotype and any of the other non-rare haplotypes (haplotype frequency ≥5%) identified were revealed for endpoint rejection and IFN-γ (p = 0.023) as well as infections and IL10 (p = 0.017). Moreover, the association between infections and TLR4 showed a borderline effect in all patients (p = 0.051) and was nominally significant in the preemptive treatment group (p = 0.038). However, in all three cases, the differing haplotype was determined by just one variant, which we already identified in our previous per-variant analysis (Tables 2 and 3, IFN-γ rs2069707, IL10 rs3024496, and TLR4 rs11536889, respectively). In addition, in the preemptive treatment group, a nominally significant association was identified between leukopenia and IFN-γ (p = 0.049). Here, the differing haplotype was solely determined by IFN-γ rs2430561. In the corresponding per-variant analysis, the association between IFN-γ rs2430561 and leukopenia showed a borderline effect (p = 0.0764, Table 3). Our haplotype analyses did not reveal any nominal significant associations for CMV infection, CMV disease as well as graft loss or death. All haplotype analyses results are not statistically significant after adjustment for multiple testing.

Discussion

This is the first association study of common genetic variants in patients after renal transplantation in a prospective randomized clinical trial.

The characteristics of the 116 patients, from whom blood samples were analyzed, were comparable to the overall population of the VIPP study, which comprised 299 patients [10]. The proportion of patients with CMV infection and CMV disease was higher in the preemptive treatment group than in the valganciclovir prophylaxis group (35.6% vs. 14.0% and 7.8% vs 1.7%). The percentages of CMV infection events in this analysis were comparable to the results seen in the overall population of the VIPP study after 84 months (incidence of CMV infection: 39.7% in the preemptive group vs. 11.5% in the prophylaxis group; p<0.0001) [10]. The percentages of CMV disease events were lower in this substudy than in the overall population (incidence of CMV disease in VIPP study after 84 months: 15.9% in the preemptive group vs. 4.7% in the prophylaxis group; p<0.01). Due to the low numbers of CMV disease events, analyses of CMV disease in the prophylaxis group (two events) were excluded from the Bonferroni correction.

The selection of the SNPs which were tested in this substudy was based on various criteria. One criterium considered the allele frequencies of variants >1%. Population frequency data were obtained from the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD v2.1) which comprises data from more than 140,000 individuals including their ethnic background. Of note total allele frequency data of the selected variants corresponds very well with allele frequency data of European (non-Finnish) individuals (> 60,000).

For CMV infection, no association with the investigated SNPs in the genes TLR4, IL10, IFN-γ, IL37 and TNF-α was observed in this largely Caucasian population. Regarding IFN-γ, our results are in line with data by Aguado et al. [22], demonstrating no association between the +874 T/A (rs2430561) variant and CMV replication in R+ transplant patients. However, other studies demonstrated an association between SNPs in these genes and infection or CMV disease [1518]. This can be partially explained by differences in the study populations, conditions and/or specific locations of investigated SNPs. Vu et al. observed an association of the IFN-γ polymorphism +874 A/T (rs2430561) with an increased risk of CMV infection in transplant recipients in a Hispanic population [18]. Mitsani et al. [23] also found a correlation of the IFN-γ +874 T/T genotype and CMV disease after lung transplantation, which was most striking among R+ patients. In another study, associations were found between other IL10 SNPs (rs1800896, rs3024492 and rs1878672) and the development of CMV disease [16].

For the further endpoints of interest, associations were observed in all patients for IL37 rs2723186 with CMV disease, for IL10 rs1800872 with the occurrence of graft loss or death, and for IL10 rs3024496 with the occurrence of infections. These results were confirmed in the prophylaxis group, however did not hold true after Bonferroni correction.

IL-37 is capable of reducing the activity of both innate and specific immune responses [24, 25]. IL37 rs2723186 is located in the intronic region of the gene. Previously, it was shown that the rs2723186 allele was significantly associated with a decreased risk of Graves’disease (an autoimmune thyroid disease) in female patients [26]. In addition, the AG genotype of rs2723186, compared to the GG genotype exhibited a decreased risk of hepatitis B virus infection [27]. In our analysis, ten patients with the GG genotype and one patient with the AA genotype developed CMV disease.

IL10 rs1800872 (-592C>A) is located in the promotor region of the gene and part of the A-T-A (-1082/-819/-592) haplotype, whose impact on the production of IL10 is discussed controversially [2830]. In our analysis, patients with the GG genotype experienced fewer events of graft loss or death. IL10 rs3024496 is located in the 3’ untranslated region of the gene and it was previously shown to influence CD4+ T cell responses to antiretroviral therapy in patients with human immunodeficiency virus 1 infection [31].

The herein described study has the following limitations: The number of analyzed blood samples was smaller than the planned number of 200 patients, and no sample size calculation was performed in advance. The study population cannot be extended by additional patient samples since the VIPP study was a prospective randomised clinical trial. Furthermore, the study was not designed for the large number of statistical tests. Additionally, the number of events was low, particularly for CMV disease, and graft loss or death. Conversely, intensive immunosuppression may have hidden possible associations.

The results of this association analysis may guide future research efforts. Based on the complexity of the immune response, research on the combined use of biomarkers and gene profiles represents a better approach than the focus on single markers. Immunity against CMV is usually defined by serology. However, a cellular immune response with potent CMV-specific T cells seems to help prevent CMV disease in CMV R+ recipients. CMV-specific T-cell responses are not measured routinely in clinics, but their potential diagnostic value has been demonstrated [3234]. T-cell response monitoring may be useful to guide prophylaxis and preemptive treatment. Thus, additional data regarding the use of biomarkers for risk stratification of renal transplant recipients should be explored [1].

Supporting information

S1 Checklist. VIPP CONSORT 2010 checklist.

(DOC)

S1 Table. Overview about total allele frequencies for the selected variants.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Genetic variants and allele and genotype frequencies of all patients and separated study groups.

(DOCX)

S1 File. Protocol amended VAC-CTA-ML19313-amd11-20100924.

(PDF)

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all patients who participated in the study. They further thank the study nurses Jasmin Hennig and Anne Heinrich, as well as Monika Elbl and Petra Metzner for excellent technical assistance. Stefan Winter (Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Stuttgart) contributed to the statistical analysis. Medical writing assistance was provided by Physicians World Europe GmbH, Mannheim, Germany.

The complete membership of the author group for the SNP subanalysis within the VIPP study was as follows (principal investigators in brackets): Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Medizinische Klinik II, Nephrologie und klinische Immunologie (Anja Susanne Mühlfeld); Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Nephrologie und Intensivmedizin, Campus Virchow (Petra Reinke); Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Klinik für Nephrologie (Johannes Stegbauer); Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Medizinische Klinik IV, Nephrologie (Katharina Heller); Universitätsklinikum Essen, Zentrum für Innere Medizin, Klinik für Nieren- und Hochdruckkrankheiten (Oliver Witzke); Klinikum der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität, Med. Klinik III/Nephrologie (Ingeborg A. Hauser); Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (Jürgen Klempnauer); Nephrologisches Zentrum Niedersachsen, Innere Medizin/Nephrologie (Volker Kliem); Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Zentrum für Chirurgie, Klinik f. Viszeral-, Thorax- u. Gefäßchirurgie (Michael Bartels); Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck/Medizinische Klinik I, Transplantationszentrum (Martin Nitschke); Universitätsklinikum Münster, Klinik und Poliklinik für Allgemeine Chirurgie (Heiner Wolters); Universitätsklinikum Köln, Medizinische Klinik IV (Tüely Kisner); Klinikum Bremen-Mitte GmbH, Innere Medizin III (Frans A. Zantvoort); Klinikum der Universität Regensburg, Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II Nephrologie, Zentrum für klinische Studien (Bernhard Banas); Landeskrankenhaus-Universitätskliniken Innsbruck, Universitätsklinik für Chirurgie (Johann Pratschke); Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Zentrum für Innere Medizin, 3. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik (Rolf Stahl)

Abbreviations

D/R

donor/recipient

CMV

cytomegalovirus

IFN

interferon

IL

interleukin

SNP

single nucleotide polymorphism

TLR

toll like receptor

TNF

tumor necrosis factor

Data Availability

All study files are available from https://www.clinicalstudydatarequest.com/.

Funding Statement

The authors declare that this study received funding from Roche Pharma AG. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for the authors [MZ and EMW], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of this author is articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. Medical writing assistance was provided by Physicians World Europe GmbH, Mannheim, Germany, was funded by Roche Pharma AG. ES and MS are supported in part by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart, Germany. OW is supported by an unrestricted grant of the Rudolf-Ackermann-Stiftung (Stiftung für Klinische Infektiologie), Germany. The funders Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart, Germany and the Rudolf-Ackermann-Stiftung (Stiftung für Klinische Infektiologie) did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, methodology, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

References

  • 1.Kotton C.N., Kumar D., Caliendo A.M., Huprikar S., Chou S., Danziger-Isakov L., et al. (2018). The Third International Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Cytomegalovirus in Solid-organ Transplantation. Transplantation 102(6), 900–931. 10.1097/TP.0000000000002191 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Morgantetti G.F., Balancin M.L., de Medeiros G.A., Dantas M., and Silva G.E.B. (2019). Cytomegalovirus infection in kidney allografts: a review of literature. Transl Androl Urol 8(Suppl 2), S192–S197. 10.21037/tau.2018.10.14 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Hosseini-Moghaddam S.M., Krishnan R.J., Guo H., and Kumar D. (2018). Cytomegalovirus infection and graft rejection as risk factors for pneumocystis pneumonia in solid organ transplant recipients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Transplant 32(8), e13339. 10.1111/ctr.13339 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Hosseini-Moghaddam S.M., Shokoohi M., Singh G., Dufresne S.F., Boucher A., Jevnikar A., et al. (2019). A Multicenter Case-control Study of the Effect of Acute Rejection and Cytomegalovirus Infection on Pneumocystis Pneumonia in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients. Clin Infect Dis 68(8), 1320–1326. 10.1093/cid/ciy682 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Selvey L.A., Lim W.H., Boan P., Swaminathan R., Slimings C., Harrison A.E., et al. (2017). Cytomegalovirus viraemia and mortality in renal transplant recipients in the era of antiviral prophylaxis. Lessons from the western Australian experience. BMC Infect Dis 17(1), 501. 10.1186/s12879-017-2599-y [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.McBride J.M., Sheinson D., Jiang J., Lewin-Koh N., Werner B.G., Chow J.K.L., et al. (2019). Correlation of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Disease Severity and Mortality With CMV Viral Burden in CMV-Seropositive Donor and CMV-Seronegative Solid Organ Transplant Recipients. Open Forum Infect Dis 6(2), ofz003. 10.1093/ofid/ofz003 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Harvala H., Stewart C., Muller K., Burns S., Marson L., MacGilchrist A., et al. (2013). High risk of cytomegalovirus infection following solid organ transplantation despite prophylactic therapy. J Med Virol 85(5), 893–898. 10.1002/jmv.23539 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Roche Pharma (2019). Valcyte® summary of product characteristics; https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/9315. Accessed November 2020.
  • 9.Witzke O., Hauser I.A., Bartels M., Wolf G., Wolters H., Nitschke M., et al. (2012). Valganciclovir prophylaxis versus preemptive therapy in cytomegalovirus-positive renal allograft recipients: 1-year results of a randomized clinical trial. Transplantation 93(1), 61–68. 10.1097/TP.0b013e318238dab3 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Witzke O., Nitschke M., Bartels M., Wolters H., Wolf G., Reinke P., et al. (2018). Valganciclovir Prophylaxis Versus Preemptive Therapy in Cytomegalovirus-Positive Renal Allograft Recipients: Long-term Results After 7 Years of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Transplantation 102(5), 876–882. 10.1097/TP.0000000000002024 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Poirier J., Delisle M.C., Quirion R., Aubert I., Farlow M., Lahiri D., et al. (1995). Apolipoprotein E4 allele as a predictor of cholinergic deficits and treatment outcome in Alzheimer disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92(26), 12260–12264. 10.1073/pnas.92.26.12260 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Farlow M.R., Lahiri D.K., Poirier J., Davignon J., and Hui S. (1996). Apolipoprotein E genotype and gender influence response to tacrine therapy. Ann N Y Acad Sci 802, 101–110. 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1996.tb32603.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Richard F., Helbecque N., Neuman E., Guez D., Levy R., and Amouyel P. (1997). APOE genotyping and response to drug treatment in Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet 349 (9051), 539. 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)80089-X [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Kuivenhoven J.A., Jukema J.W., Zwinderman A.H., de Knijff P., McPherson R., Bruschke A.V., et al. (1998). The role of a common variant of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. The Regression Growth Evaluation Statin Study Group. N Engl J Med 338(2), 86–93. 10.1056/NEJM199801083380203 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Ducloux D., Deschamps M., Yannaraki M., Ferrand C., Bamoulid J., Saas P., et al. (2005). Relevance of Toll-like receptor-4 polymorphisms in renal transplantation. Kidney Int 67(6), 2454–2461. 10.1111/j.1523-1755.2005.00354.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Loeffler J., Steffens M., Arlt E.M., Toliat M.R., Mezger M., Suk A., et al. (2006). Polymorphisms in the genes encoding chemokine receptor 5, interleukin-10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 contribute to cytomegalovirus reactivation and disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. J Clin Microbiol 44(5), 1847–1850. 10.1128/JCM.44.5.1847-1850.2006 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Vu D., Shah T., Ansari J., Sakharkar P., Yasir Q., Naraghi R., et al. (2014). Interferon-gamma gene polymorphism +874 A/T is associated with an increased risk of cytomegalovirus infection among Hispanic renal transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 16(5), 724–732. 10.1111/tid.12285 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Hurme M., and Helminen M. (1998). Resistance to human cytomegalovirus infection may be influenced by genetic polymorphisms of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist genes. Scand J Infect Dis 30(5), 447–449. 10.1080/00365549850161403 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.McNamee E.N., Masterson J.C., Jedlicka P., McManus M., Grenz A., Collins C.B., et al. (2011). Interleukin 37 expression protects mice from colitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(40), 16711–16716. 10.1073/pnas.1111982108 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.R Core Team (2020). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/. [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Sinnwell JP and Schaid DJ (2020). haplo.stats: Statistical Analysis of Haplotypes with Traits and Covariates when Linkage Phase is Ambiguous. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=haplo.stats [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Aguado R., Paez-Vega A., Aguera M.L., Montejo M., Guirado L., Fortun J., et al. (2018). Lack of evidence of association between IFNG and IL28B polymorphisms and QuantiFERON-CMV test results in seropositive transplant patients. Hum Immunol 79(6), 499–505. 10.1016/j.humimm.2018.03.009 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Mitsani D., Nguyen M.H., Girnita D.M., Spichty K., Kwak E.J., Silveira F.P., et al. (2011). A polymorphism linked to elevated levels of interferon-gamma is associated with an increased risk of cytomegalovirus disease among Caucasian lung transplant recipients at a single center. J Heart Lung Transplant 30(5), 523–529. 10.1016/j.healun.2010.11.008 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Nold M.F., Nold-Petry C.A., Zepp J.A., Palmer B.E., Bufler P., and Dinarello C.A. (2010). IL-37 is a fundamental inhibitor of innate immunity. Nat Immunol 11(11), 1014–1022. 10.1038/ni.1944 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Luo Y., Cai X., Liu S., Wang S., Nold-Petry C.A., Nold M.F., et al. (2014). Suppression of antigen-specific adaptive immunity by IL-37 via induction of tolerogenic dendritic cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(42), 15178–15183. 10.1073/pnas.1416714111 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Yan N., Meng S., Song R.H., Qin Q., Wang X., Yao Q., et al. (2015). Polymorphism of IL37 gene as a protective factor for autoimmune thyroid disease. J Mol Endocrinol 55(3), 209–218. 10.1530/JME-15-0144 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Al-Anazi M.R., Matou-Nasri S., Al-Qahtani A.A., Alghamdi J., Abdo A.A., Sanai F.M., et al. (2019). Association between IL-37 gene polymorphisms and risk of HBV-related liver disease in a Saudi Arabian population. Sci Rep 9(1), 7123. 10.1038/s41598-019-42808-4 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Turner D.M., Williams D.M., Sankaran D., Lazarus M., Sinnott P.J., and Hutchinson I.V. (1997). An investigation of polymorphism in the interleukin-10 gene promoter. Eur J Immunogenet 24(1), 1–8. 10.1111/j.1365-2370.1997.tb00001.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Crawley E., Kay R., Sillibourne J., Patel P., Hutchinson I., and Woo P. (1999). Polymorphic haplotypes of the interleukin-10 5’ flanking region determine variable interleukin-10 transcription and are associated with particular phenotypes of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 42(6), 1101–1108. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Lin M.T., Storer B., Martin P.J., Tseng L.H., Gooley T., Chen P.J., et al. (2003). Relation of an interleukin-10 promoter polymorphism to graft-versus-host disease and survival after hematopoietic-cell transplantation. N Engl J Med 349(23), 2201–2210. 10.1056/NEJMoa022060 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Shrestha S., Wiener H.W., Aissani B., Song W., Shendre A., Wilson C.M., et al. (2010). Interleukin-10 (IL-10) pathway: genetic variants and outcomes of HIV-1 infection in African American adolescents. PLoS One 5(10), e13384. 10.1371/journal.pone.0013384 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Sester U., Presser D., Dirks J., Gartner B.C., Kohler H., and Sester M. (2008). PD-1 expression and IL-2 loss of cytomegalovirus- specific T cells correlates with viremia and reversible functional anergy. Am J Transplant 8(7), 1486–1497. 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2008.02279.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Manuel O., Husain S., Kumar D., Zayas C., Mawhorter S., Levi M.E., et al. (2013). Assessment of cytomegalovirus-specific cell-mediated immunity for the prediction of cytomegalovirus disease in high-risk solid-organ transplant recipients: a multicenter cohort study. Clin Infect Dis 56(6), 817–824. 10.1093/cid/cis993 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Kumar D., Chin-Hong P., Kayler L., Wojciechowski D., Limaye A.P., Osama Gaber A., et al. (2019). A prospective multicenter observational study of cell-mediated immunity as a predictor for cytomegalovirus infection in kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant 19(9), 2505–2516. 10.1111/ajt.15315 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

S1 Checklist. VIPP CONSORT 2010 checklist.

(DOC)

S1 Table. Overview about total allele frequencies for the selected variants.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Genetic variants and allele and genotype frequencies of all patients and separated study groups.

(DOCX)

S1 File. Protocol amended VAC-CTA-ML19313-amd11-20100924.

(PDF)

Data Availability Statement

All study files are available from https://www.clinicalstudydatarequest.com/.


Articles from PLoS ONE are provided here courtesy of PLOS

RESOURCES