Cytomegalovirus-induced CD13-specific autoimmunity--a possible cause of chronic graft-vs-host disease.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been suggested to be associated with certain autoimmune phenomena as well as with the development of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Earlier we found that the CMV-associated host protein CD13 is immunogenic during CMV infection in allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients, resulting in production of CD13-specific antibodies (7). Here we found a close correlation between CD13-specific immunity and later development of cGVHD in 26 of 33 patients who could be evaluated for this disease. Of seven patients with CMV disease, six developed extensive cGVHD, all of whom had CD13 specific antibodies (P=0.0002). All 14 patients who were CD13-immune later developed either limited or extensive cGVHD (P=0.0008). Antibodies in sera from the CD13-immune patients suffering from cGVHD recognized normal structures in cryosectioned skin biopsies from control individuals, producing a staining pattern similar to that of CD13-specific monoclonal antibodies. The antibody binding could be specifically blocked by preincubation of the skin sections with a mixture of monoclonal antibodies against CD13, and was also abolished after preabsorption of sera to mouse cells expressing human CD13. No other common autoantibodies were identified in more than single patients. Furthermore, in vivo binding of IgM antibodies in a CD13-like fashion was preferentially demonstrated in skin and oral mucosa biopsies from the CD13-immune patients suffering from cGVHD. Thus, we suggest that CMV-induced CD13-specific autoimmunity contribute to tissue damage in chronic graft-versus-host reactions.