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Immune Responses to EBV in the Immunocompromised Host

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Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders

Abstract

EBV is a γ herpesvirus that infects more than 95% of the world’s adult population. Primary EBV infection occurs during childhood when it usually is asymptomatic or during adolescence when it may manifest as infectious mononucleosis (IM). Regardless of the clinical manifestation of primary infection, EBV persists in the B cell compartment of the infected host in a latent state of infection that may be occasionally interrupted by episodic lytic viral reactivations. Although EBV elicits and maintains potent immune responses that successfully keep both its latency and reactivation phases under tight control in healthy humans, the virus may associate with several malignancies in individuals with immunodeficiencies or individuals whose cellular immunity is impaired, because of the growth-transforming function of some of the EBV latent genes, which are true oncogenes. This chapter will discuss the features of innate and adaptive immunity to EBV in healthy and in immunosuppressed organ transplant patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Diana M. Metes

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  1. Diana M. Metes
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Correspondence to Diana M. Metes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Vikas R. Dharnidharka

  2. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Michael Green

  3. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Steven A. Webber

  4. Ev. Diakonie-Krankenhaus Bremen, German PTLD Study Group, Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Ralf Ulrich Trappe

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Metes, D.M. (2021). Immune Responses to EBV in the Immunocompromised Host. In: Dharnidharka, V.R., Green, M., Webber, S.A., Trappe, R.U. (eds) Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65403-0_5

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