{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T18:03:31Z","timestamp":1780596211273,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780531200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital,Mahidol University","award":["RF_66114"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RF_66114"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) usually establishes a lifelong latent infection after primary infection. Reactivation occurs sporadically and is controlled by cell-mediated immune response (CMIR). Monitoring of CMIR against CMV is mandatory in immunocompromised patients to adjust immunosuppressive drugs to prevent serious end-organ damage after CMV reactivation. Intracellular staining (ICS) and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) quantifying CMV-specific T-cells are generally used as surrogate markers for CMIR against CMV. Whether the results of these 2 methods correlate well is not known. This study compared the numbers of CMV-specific T-cells identified by ELISPOT and ICS in healthy adult volunteers. Correlation with CMV serological status was explored. Thirty peripheral blood samples from healthy individuals were quantified for IFN-\u03b3-producing cells after stimulation with whole CMV and IE1 using ICS, and IFN-\u03b3-secreting cells after stimulation with whole CMV lysate and IE1 peptide pool using ICS and IFN-\u03b3-secreting cells by ELISPOT. Anti-CMV IgG levels were analyzed concomitantly using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. There were 30 healthy participants, 15 (50%) male, with a mean age of 37.8 (\u00b1 7.6) years. Twenty-eight (93.3%) were seropositive against CMV. The CMV-specific CD3\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    cells, as measured by ICS, were highly correlated with the spot numbers obtained by the ELISPOT, irrespective of CMV antigens used (whole CMV, r\u2009\n                    <jats:italic>=<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u20090.7677,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u20090.0001; IE1, r\u2009\n                    <jats:italic>=<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u20090.6516,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u20090.0001). The numbers of CMV-specific CD3\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    cells quantified by IE1 stimulation by these 2 assays were statistically correlated with anti-CMV IgG levels (ICS, r\u2009\n                    <jats:italic>=<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u20090.5070,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u20090.004; ELISPOT, r\u2009=\u20090.4384,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u20090.015). Among the 30 participants, CMV-specific T cells were detected in all participants (100%), including the two seronegative individuals. The present study demonstrated that CMV-specific T-cells measured by ICS and ELISPOT assays were well correlated, suggesting that these assays could be used to monitor CMV-specific T-cells. CMV IgG levels may reflect prior CMV infection and CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMIR) in immunocompetent individuals.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0349292","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T17:24:11Z","timestamp":1780593851000},"page":"e0349292","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparison between enzyme-linked immunospot assay and intracellular cytokine flow cytometry assay of cytomegalovirus-specific T-cell response in healthy participants"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Chompunuch","family":"Klinmalai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nopporn","family":"Apiwattanakul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Somsak","family":"Prasongtanakij","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0930-8936","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jackrapong","family":"Bruminhent","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3269-6148","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Supanart","family":"Srisala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0349292.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00034-08","article-title":"Immunobiology 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cytomegalovirus infection","volume":"13","author":"M Sester","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Am Soc Nephrol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0349292.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1164\/rccm.201504-0733OC","article-title":"Polyfunctional T-Cell Signatures to Predict Protection from Cytomegalovirus after Lung Transplantation","volume":"193","author":"LD Snyder","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am J Respir Crit Care Med"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0349292.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1084\/jem.20050882","article-title":"Broadly targeted human cytomegalovirus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells dominate the memory compartments of exposed subjects","volume":"202","author":"AW Sylwester","year":"2005","journal-title":"J Exp Med"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0349292.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-2143(98)90007-5","article-title":"Role of interferon-gamma in murine cytomegalovirus 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