CD8+ Cytotoxic Lymphocyte Responses against Cytomegalovirus after Liver Transplantation: Correlation with Time from Transplant to Receipt of Tacrolimus

The effects of the immunocompromised state after liver transplantation on the frequency of cytomegalovirus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were investigated in 93 patients by using HLA class I tetrameric complexes corresponding to HLA-A*0201, HLA-B*0702, HLA-B*0801, and HLA-B*3501 refolded with peptides from the ppUL83 matrix protein. ppUL83 CTL frequencies were suppressed during the first 6 months after transplantation. Patients with >1 HLA-restricted response detected had high correlation among ppUL83 CD8+ CTL frequencies restricted by different HLA haplotypes (Spearman’s ρ=.67; P