Both Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infections affect quantities of circulating T- cells and combined they result in an aging-related T-cell phenotype at younger age

Abstract

Abstract Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is known to alter circulating effector memory CD45RA+ (TemRA) or CD45RA- (TemRO) T-cell numbers, but whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) does the same or this is amplified during a CMV and EBV co-infection is unclear. Immune cell numbers in blood of children and young, middle-aged, and senior adults (n = 336) were determined with flow cytometry, and additional multivariate linear regression, intra-group correlation, and cluster analyses were performed. CMV alone caused more immune cell variance for all age groups, and CMV+ EBV- senior adults had more late-differentiated CD4+ and CD8+ TemRA and TemRO T-cells. EBV alone resulted in a more equal immune cell composition for children and young adults, and CMV- EBV+ senior adults had more intermediate/late-differentiated CD4+ TemRA and TemRO T-cells. CMV and EBV together gave young and middle-aged adults with an elevated BMI and anti-CMV antibody levels a similar immune cell composition as senior adults, and CMV+ EBV+ middle-aged adults had more late-differentiated CD8+ TemRA, TemRO, and HLA-DR+ CD38- T-cells than CMV+ EBV- controls. This study identified CMV- or EBV-induced changes in T-cell numbers and that some young and middle-aged adults were more negatively impacted by a CMV and EBV co-infection giving them an aging-related T-cell phenotype.