Enhancement of murine cytomegalovirus infection during graft-vs.-host reaction.

A mouse model was used for elucidation of the role of a graft-vs-host reaction in promoting cytomegalovirus infection. F1 (DBA/2 X C3H/He) hybrid mice were infected with murine cytomegalovirus. Five weeks later, a graft-vs.-host reaction was produced in the chronically infected animals by the administration of multiple doses of DBA/2 parental splenocytes. Cytomegalovirus was recovered more often from the organs of mice undergoing graft-vs.-host reaction than from those of control animals (P less than 0.001). These results indicate that the graft-vs.-host reaction alone can enhance murine cytomegalovirus infection in a chronically infected host and may help explain the high incidence of cytomegalovirus infection after bone marrow allograft transplantation in man.