Human leukocyte antigen HLA-BR16 is associated with reduced risk for cytomegalovirus infection and disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Purpose Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and its associated disease are significant complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Many risk factors for CMV infection have been previously identified, including different human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) of donor/recipient pairs. We aimed to investigate the relation of broad HLAs of donor/recipient pairs to the occurrence of postallogeneic HSCT CMV infection and disease. Materials and methods A total of 112 patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT from a matched sibling donor were followed up for occurrence of CMV infection and disease by performing weekly quantitative PCR-CMV-DNA and clinical examination until day 100 after transplantation. Results CMV infection occurred in 58 patients (51.8%), whereas CMV disease occurred in 22 (19.6%). On univariate analysis, acute leukemia diagnosis (P 0.001), donor/recipient CMV serostatus (P = 0.010), methylprednisolone administration (P = 0.002), fludarabine/ cyclophosphamide/antithymocyte globulin-conditioning regimen (P = 0.002), age (P = 0.041), HLA-A1 (P = 0.037), HLA-A3 (P = 0.035), HLA-B15 (P = 0.021), HLA-B16 (P = 0.003), HLA-DR6 (P = 0.002), and HLACw7 (P = 0.003) influenced the occurrence of CMV infection significantly. On multivariate analysis, HLA-A3, HLA-B16, and HLA-Cw7 significantly affected the risk for CMV infection occurrence (P = 0.025, 0.004, and 0.008, respectively). Also, HLA-B16 was associated with reduced risk for CMV disease (P = 0.048). Conclusion HLA-B16 has a protective effect against both CMV infection and disease following allogeneic HSCT.