Temporal virus serological profiling of kidney graft recipients using VirScan

Significance Viral infections after organ transplantation remain a significant cause of morbidity, reducing both allograft and patient survival. At this time, pretransplant screening of potential donors and recipients is based on serological status and is limited to certain viruses. Recently, a multiplex unbiased array, called VirScan, was developed. This tool allows the detection of antibodies against viruses, using a synthetic human virome. Here, we tested the value of VirScan in the follow-up of a cohort of kidney transplant recipients. We found that VirScan is easy to use, cost-effective, safe, and reproducible, and gives an unbiased approach to monitor patients after transplantation, but in addition, the anti-viral antibody responses were largely conserved in patients, regardless of immunosuppressive treatment.