Title Participants "Better insights in the pathogenesis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and CMV vaccination by the use of a new murine CMV infection model" "Jun Xiang" "Evaluation of different cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA PCR protocols for analysis of dried blood spots from consecutive cases of neonates with congenital CMV infections." "C Vauloup-Fellous, P Dubreuil, Ben De Saeger, L Grangeot-Keros, Anne Naessens" "Two protocols for the extraction of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA and two methods for the amplification of CMV DNA in dried blood spots were evaluated for the retrospective diagnosis of congenital CMV infection. During the period from 1996 to 2006, a urine screening program detected 76 congenitally infected neonates. Stored Guthrie cards with blood from 55 cases and 12 controls were tested. Two spots of dried blood were cut from each card and evaluated in two centers. CMV DNA was extracted from a whole single spot. Center 1 used phenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation followed by a conventional PCR. Center 2 used the NucliSens easyMAG automated DNA/RNA extraction platform (bioMérieux) followed by a real-time PCR. For evaluation of the extraction method, DNA extracted from each blood spot was evaluated by the amplification method used by the collaborating center. The sensitivities were 66% for center 1 and 73% for center 2. None of the controls were positive. A sensitivity as high as 82% could be obtained by combining the most sensitive extraction method (the phenol-chloroform procedure) with the most sensitive PCR method (real-time PCR). The detection rate was not influenced by the duration of storage of the spots. The sensitivity was higher with blood from congenitally infected cases due to a primary maternal CMV infection, regardless of the protocol used. However, the difference reached significance only for the least-sensitive protocol (P = 0.036)." "Surveillance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNAemia in pediatric allogeneic stem cell transplantation : incidence and outcome of CMV infection and disease" "Victoria Bordon Maria, S Bravo, L Van Renterghem, Yves Benoit, Catharina Dhooge" "Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a serious problem after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). To investigate the incidence of CMV infection and outcome we retrospectively analyzed 70 consecutive pediatric allogeneic HSCTs monitored by CMV polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with at least 1-year follow-up or until death. All patients at risk for CMV infection (CMV-seropositive patients and CMV-seronegative recipients transplanted from CMV-seropositive donors) received hyperimmune anti-CMV globulins whereas in the group of HSCT patients with both donor and recipient CMV negativity, polyvalent immunoglobulins were given, both at a dose of 400 mg/kg. All patients received acyclovir at prophylactic doses for at least 6 months. Patients were monitored twice a week by CMV PCR. Patients with 2 positive results for CMV DNAemia received ganciclovir for 14 days and continued until 2 consecutive negative results were obtained. The incidence of CMV DNAemia was 12.8% (9/70) in the whole group, with significant higher risk for patients with CMV-seropositive recipient status, 8 out of 22 (36%), vs. patients with seronegative status, 1 out of 48 (2%) (P=0.0002). Three out of 9 patients with DNAemia developed CMV disease despite adequate preemptive treatment. The transplant-related mortality was higher in the CMV-seropositive recipient group (P=0.05). Age, use of hyperimmune anti-CMV globulins at a high dose, and the low incidence of graft-versus-host disease might be contributing factors to this low incidence." "Hearing configuration in children with cCMV infection and proposal of a flow chart for hearing evaluation" "Ina Foulon, Leen Vleurinck, Kristin Kerkhofs, Frans Gordts" "OBJECTIVE: This study had three main goals: (1) to determine the hearing configuration in hearing-impaired children born with a congenital CMV (cCMV) infection, (2) to see whether auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) was present, and (3) to propose a flow chart for the follow-up of hearing in children with cCMV. DESIGN: Hearing configuration and the presence of ANSD in cCMV infected children was analysed. Selection criteria were: hearing-impaired children with a regular audiometric follow-up for at least 36 months, no other major risk factors for hearing loss, a normal middle-ear status, and an appropriate behavioral response to the given pure-tone stimuli. STUDY SAMPLE: Out of a cohort of 206 cCMV infected children, 18 hearing-impaired children were selected. RESULTS: Audiograms of all children showed a flat configuration of SNHL: the slope between octave bands was never greater than 10 decibels. None of the 18 children were found to have ANSD. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing impairment in cCMV infants affected all frequencies equally and ANSD does not appear to be a feature of cCMV infection. A flow chart for hearing follow-up in children with cCMV infection was suggested in order to provide guidance, improve uniformity in follow-up, and to make results easier to compare." "Flemish cCMV registry: threshold variability" "JULIE GODERIS, Freya Swinnen" "Multiple phenotypic alterations caused by a c-type cytochrome maturation ccmC gene mutation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa" "Barbara Baert, Christine Baysse, Sandra Matthijs, Pierre Cornelis" "In some Proteobacteria biogenesis of c-type cytochromes depends on the products of the ccmABCDEFG(H) genes, which encode inner-membrane proteins. Inactivation of some ccm genes, in particular ccmC, has an impact on other processes as well, including siderophore production and utilization. Non-polar insertions were generated in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa ccmA, ccmC, ccmE, ccmF and ccmH genes, and their impacts on different phenotypes were compared. Only in the case of the ccmC mutant was cytochrome c production totally abrogated. The ccmC mutant, and to a lesser extent the ccmF mutant, showed a range of other phenotypic changes. The production of the siderophore pyoverdine was very low and growth under the condition of iron limitation was severely restricted, but production of the second siderophore, pyochelin, was increased. Interestingly, other traits were also strongly affected by the ccmC mutation, including the production of pyocyanin, swarming and twitching motility, and rhamnolipid production. The production of N-acyl homoserine lactones or the Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) was, however, not affected in the ccmC and ccmF mutants. The ccmC mutant was also found to accumulate porphyrins, and catalase production was undetectable, consistent with the increased sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide. Finally, reduction in the content of [Fe-S] clusters was evidenced in both ccmC and ccmF mutants. Wild-type phenotypes were restored by complementation with a ccmC gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17400. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that CcmC is a key determinant for cytochrome c biogenesis, pyoverdine maturation, and expression of some quorum sensing-regulated traits." "Lack of CCM1 induces hypersprouting and impairs response to flow" "Holger Gerhardt" "Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is a disease of vascular malformations known to be caused by mutations in one of three genes: CCM1, CCM2 or CCM3. Despite several studies, the mechanism of CCM lesion onset remains unclear. Using a Ccm1 knockout mouse model, we studied the morphogenesis of early lesion formation in the retina in order to provide insight into potential mechanisms. We demonstrate that lesions develop in a stereotypic location and pattern, preceded by endothelial hypersprouting as confirmed in a zebrafish model of disease. The vascular defects seen with loss of Ccm1 suggest a defect in endothelial flow response. Taken together, these results suggest new mechanisms of early CCM disease pathogenesis and provide a framework for further study." "Comparison of the pathogenesis of the highly passaged MCMV Smith strain with that of the low passaged MCMV HaNa1 isolate in BALB/c mice upon oronasal inoculation" "Shunchuan Zhang, Jun Xiang, Jan Van Doorsselaere, Hans Nauwynck" "Comparison of the pathogenesis of the highly passaged MCMV Smith strain with that of low passaged MCMV HaNa1 strain in Balb/c mice upon oronasal inoculation" "Shunchuan Zhang, Jun Xiang, Hans Nauwynck" "Comparison of the pathogenesis of the highly passaged MCMV Smith strain with that of the low passaged MCMV HaNa1 strain in Balb/c mice upon oronasal inoculation" "Shunchuan Zhang, Jun Xiang, Hans Nauwynck"