Transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in a murine model: characterization of CMV-infected donor mice.

BACKGROUND:  Donor and recipient mechanisms that modulate the incidence and severity of transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus (TT-CMV) are unclear. The kinetics of murine CMV (MCMV) infection in the peripheral blood of donor mice were investigated to determine the utility of this model for studying TT-CMV. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS:  BALB/cByJ mice, experimentally infected with Smith strain MCMV, were killed at serial time points up to 28 days after infection. Peritoneal exudate cells (PECs), peripheral blood white blood cells (WBCs), plasma, and marrow were tested for MCMV DNA with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), replication-competent virus with quantitative culture, and transcription of viral genes with reverse transcription (RT)-PCR targeted at the immediate-early 1 (ie1) gene. RESULTS:  PECs, macrophages infected by MCMV shortly after intraperitoneal inoculation, demonstrated high mean levels of MCMV DNA (105-107 genome equivalents [geqs]/105 PECs), virus production (101-104 infectious virions/105 PECs), and ie1 gene transcription, demonstrating productive infection. In contrast, while MCMV loads averaged 104 to 106 geqs per 105 peripheral WBCs, all WBC samples were uniformly negative for MCMV ie1 expression by RT-PCR and for culturable virus, consistent with latent MCMV infection. Plasma and marrow showed lower viral loads than WBCs and PECs and were all negative by culture and RT-PCR analysis. CONCLUSIONS:  Following experimental MCMV infection, murine peripheral blood WBCs appear to be latently infected with virus (MCMV DNA–positive; MCMV RNA–negative; MCMV culture–negative), similar to the latently infected human monocytes in peripheral blood of CMV-seropositive donors. These donor kinetics suggest that the experimental MCMV system can be used to effectively model the mechanisms of TT-CMV infections in humans.