Correspondence between Cytomegalovirus IgG Levels Measured in Saliva and Serum

Riis, JL. Et al. (2020) Journal of Clinical Medicine.

ABSTRACT:
Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infects more than 80% of the global population. While mostly  asymptomatic, HCMV infection can be serious among the immunocompromised, and it is implicated in chronic disease pathology in adulthood. Large-scale minimally-invasive HCMV screening could advance research and public health efforts to monitor infection prevalence. We examine the utility of measuring HCMV immunoglobulin-G (IgG) levels in saliva as an index of serum levels. Matched serum and saliva samples from healthy adults (N=98; 44% female; 51% white) were assayed for HCMV IgG, total salivary protein, and salivary markers of oral inflammation, blood, and tissue integrity. We examine the serum-saliva association for HCMV IgG and assess the influence of participant characteristics and factors specific to the oral compartment (e.g., oral inflammation) on HCMV IgG level and cross-specimen relations. We found a robust serum-saliva association for HCMV IgG with serum antibody levels accounting for >60% of the variance in salivary levels. This relation remained after adjusting for key demographic and oral immune variables. Compared to the serum test, the salivary HCMV IgG test had 51% sensitivity and 97% specificity. With improvements in assay performance and sample optimization, HCMV antibody levels in oral fluids may be useful proxy for serum levels.

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Keywords: cytomegalovirus, IgG, antibodies, saliva, serum-saliva, HCMV IgG,