The impact of donor cytokine gene polymorphisms on the incidence of cytomegalovirus infection after kidney transplantation

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) seronegative recipients of kidneys from CMV seropositive donors are at a high risk of CMV infection after transplantation since viruses in the allograft may reactivate in patients without prior immunity. We hypothesized that the genetic background of the graft has an influence on the incidence of infection. Effects of IL10, IL6 and IFNG gene polymorphisms, known to affect CMV infectivity, were investigated in 71 CMV seronegative recipients of grafts from CMV seropositive cadaver donors. Donor IL10(− 1082 AA) genotype reduced the incidence of CMV infection (p = 0.031) and CMV episodes in these patients tended to occur later (AA: median 83 days, AG/GG: median 45 days, p = 0.072). In multivariate analysis, other explaining factors than the donor IL10(− 1082 AA) genotype alone did not improve Cox hazard model (HR = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.09–0.96, p = 0.043). Recipient polymorphisms did not reduce the incidence of CMV infection. We conclude that donor IL10 gene polymorphisms may influence the likelihood of CMV infection in the high risk patients investigated.