Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a common cause of significant morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). We evaluated interferon-γ (IFN-γ) secretion by HCMV NLVspecific CD8 + T cells in HCMV-reactivated allo-HSCT recipients using an enzymelinked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay at 3 months post-transplantation. Blood samples from 47 recipients were tested for HCMV DNAemia, HCMV pp65 antigenemia, and anti-HCMV immunoglobulins (IgG/IgM) over 3 months post-transplantation. Of the 47 transplant recipients, 26 were HLA-A*02 positive and 21 were HLA-A*02 negative. The results were essentially consistent between the 47 transplant recipients and the HLA-A*02-positive recipients. HCMV DNAemia was not linearly correlated with IFN-γ spot-forming cells (SFCs) counts; IFN-γ SFCs counts did not differ significantly between the HCMV DNAemia-positive and -negative groups, whereas the HCMV-DNA virus loads were inversely correlated with the IFN-γ SFCs counts. HCMV pp65 antigenemia was not linearly correlated with IFN-γ SFCs counts; IFN-γ SFCs counts in the HCMV pp65 antigenemia-positive and -negative groups were similar. More IFN-γ SFCs counts were detected in transplant recipients with high anti-HCMV-IgG antibody titers than in those with low anti-HCMV-IgG titers pre-transplantation in the 47 recipients. Anti-HCMV-IgG antibody titers were positively linearly correlated with IFN-γ SFCs counts in HLA-A*02-positive recipients. The HCMV infection indicators used to monitor HCMV reactivation had different values in transplant recipients. The use of the IFN-γ SFCs counts measured by ELISPOT to evaluate the risk of HCMV reactivation needs further study.

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Objective To assess the rate of, and risk factors for, human cytomegalovirus viremia (HCMV) in donor+/recipient+ (HCMV serostatus matched) hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. Methods HCMV DNA from 144 donor+/recipient+ HSCT recipients was examined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results The cumulative incidence of HCMV viremia was 69.4% (100/144) during the 48 weeks after HSCT. In a multivariate analysis, acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) was discovered to be a risk factor for the occurrence of HCMV viremia (P = .006). The cumulative incidence of HCMV viremia and increasing DNA loads were significantly associated with aGVHD occurrence (P = .001 for each). The occurrence of late-term HCMV viremia was associated with aGVHD (P = .001) and a higher DNA load during the first 12 weeks after HSCT (P = .04). Conclusions aGVHD is a risk factor for HCMV viremia. Recipients with aGVHD who have a high HCMV DNA load should be strictly monitored to prevent HCMV activation.

Background and Objective. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted increasing attention as novel biomarkers facilitating early diagnosis, prognostic predictions, and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). LINC01314 is aberrantly expressed in many cancers, suggesting its role in tumor development. However, its expression and underlying molecular mechanism in CRC remain to be clarified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression levels of LINC01314 and its potentially interacting microRNA (miRNA) miR-96 in CRC patients, as well as clinical values. Methods. A tissue microarray (TMA) containing 76 individual colorectal tumor samples and 28 adjacent normal samples was constructed, and the expression levels of LINC01314 and miR-96 were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Results. The expression levels of both LINC01314 and miR-96 were upregulated in CRC tissues and were associated with vascular metastasis ( p < 0.05 ). A significantly positive correlation was observed between LINC01314 and miR-96 expression in tumor tissues ( p < 0.001 , r = 0.870 ). Dominant expression of LINC01314 was a risk factor for both blood vessel invasion ( p < 0.05 ) and poor 5-year survival ( p = 0.001 , hazard ratio = 4.144 ). The Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that patients with LINC01314-dominant expression exhibited worse 5-year survival rates than those with miR-96-dominant expression ( p < 0.05 ). Conclusion. The expression patterns of both LINC01314 and miR-96 may be diagnostic of, and prognostic for, CRC. These findings will facilitate further exploration of the molecular mechanism of lncRNAs in CRC.