Oral shedding of human herpesviruses in renal transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the shedding profile of human herpesviruses in the saliva of renal transplant recipients.

METHODS: This is a prospective case-control study of 50 renal transplant recipients and control group of 50 individuals (non-transplanted and immunocompetent). Mouthwash samples were collected via oral rinse and then submitted to screening for the presence of eight types of herpesviruses by using multiplex PCR. Fisher's exact, chi-square, and Student t tests were used for statistical analysis, and the significance level was set at 5%.

RESULTS: The mean age of the study group was 49.42 ± 12.94 years, 28/50 (56%) were female, and the time elapsed after transplantation was 68.20 ± 67.19 months. Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) (P = 0.025) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (P = 0.024) were, statistically, more excreted in the saliva of renal transplant recipients compared to control group. Gender (P = 1.00) and age (P = 0.563) did not influence the salivary shedding of herpesviruses in renal transplant recipients. Individuals who excreted varicella-zoster virus in saliva had a shorter mean time of transplantation (22:00 + 2.82 months) (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Renal transplant recipients excreted herpesviruses more often than controls, especially HSV-1 and EBV, with salivary shedding of herpesviruses being more frequent in patients with recent kidney transplantation.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The present findings support other longitudinal studies evaluating the relationship between oral shedding of human herpesviruses and clinical presence of active infection and renal transplant failure.