{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Decreased T-cell response against latent cytomegalovirus infection does not correlate with anti-IFN autoantibodies in patients with APECED.
{Author}: Hetemäki I;Heikkilä N;Peterson P;Kekäläinen E;Willcox N;Anette S B W;Jarva H;Arstila TP;
{Journal}: APMIS
{Volume}: 0
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 2024 Aug 7
{Factor}: 3.428
{DOI}: 10.1111/apm.13458
{Abstract}: Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) is an inborn error of immunity affecting both multiple endocrine organs and susceptibility to candidiasis, each with an autoimmune basis. Recently, high titer neutralizing anti-type I interferon (IFN) autoantibodies have been linked with increased severity of SARS-CoV-2 and varicella zoster virus infections in APECED patients. Examining immunity against cytomegalovirus (CMV), we found a higher prevalence of anti-CMV IgG antibodies in patients with APECED (N = 19) than in 44 healthy controls (90% vs 64%, p = 0.04); the similar difference in their IgG levels did not achieve significance (95 ± 74 vs 64 ± 35 IU/mL, ns.). In contrast, the frequency of CMV-specific T cells was lower (804 ± 718/million vs 1591 ± 972/million PBMC p = 0.03). We saw no correlations between levels of anti-CMV IgG and anti-IFN antibodies in APECED patients or in a separate cohort of patients with thymoma (n = 70), over 60% of whom also had anti-IFN antibodies. Our results suggest a dysregulated response to CMV in APECED patients and highlight immunodeficiency to viral infections as part of the disease spectrum.