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CMV antibody blood test was positive

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/19/2009 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
Is anybody out there an immune system test guru?  CMV IgG - which indicates exposure at some point in ones' life - tested positive (this would be true for more than 1 in 2 adult Americans for that matter), while CMV (Cytomegalavirus sp.) IgM - which tends to be indicative of recent exposure- tested negative.  Does this mean I probably am not infected with CMV?  My alternative MD is out of town for a bit but either way I know that antibodies are not a very diretc way of really knowing what is going on down there.  I am going to try and get my GI to get a biopsy, eg from a  flex sig, and have it cultured to test for CMV infection.  Without knowing anything more, I am somewhat astounded this isn't routinely done whenever one proves resistant to meds.  Granted, if any of us were infected with CMV, eradication is problematic anyway, but if I do end up under the knife, I want to know what to do about the CMV (if any) before I create post-surgical problems.  Apparently CMV is one of the things that can cause cuffitis in j-pouch's, for example.
Posted 5/19/2009 3:33 AM (GMT 0)

I am not an immune system guru, but I think igg is related to past infections, not current. I think that acyclovir can be used for treatment of bad infections.  Have you been sick lately?(flu like symptoms)  Hope you do OK with surgery,

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yuckygut

diagnosed 1998

now off prednisone and colazal

drink 1 Haldi daily to remain in remission

Posted 5/19/2009 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
I also think that would be related to past infections. From my understanding, once we've been exposed to a virus, we pretty much have antibodies to that virus for life. That's why you can only get chicken pox once (unless you had a really light case the first time) and why immunizations work.
Posted 5/19/2009 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, yuckygut. Yeah my thought is that with IgG low and in the "negative" range (albeit not zero), it means CMV is probably not infecting my gut in terms of symptoms,... but I wish I could be sure. From my reading so far, eradicating CMV is very very difficult. On the other hand, thanks to low dose prednisone dependence, I hardly ever get so much as a drop of blood or even pink mucus in my stool.... in fact most of the time my stool is formed. But if I came off pred completely I would flare. I'm going to run by my CMV concerns with my GI and see where I can run with it, or if maybe this is a baseless concern. But if I get the collon removed now, I'll always wonder "what if" it was just due to CMV.
Posted 5/20/2009 5:07 AM (GMT 0)
my thought was what if a viral infection caused the inflammatory and auto immune process that made me sick in the first place in 1996? not that I could do anything about it now, but it does make me wonder.

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yuckygut

diagnosed 1998

now off prednisone and colazal

drink 1 Haldi daily to remain in remission
Posted 5/20/2009 12:47 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, I'm a bit confused. CMV is in the herpesvirus group in which includes herpes simplex virus, chickenpox and Epstein-Barr (mono). How would this affect the gut? Maybe I am reading this wrong. I have had CMV, though I don't know if it's still in my system. I had chickenpox when I was 6 and Mono when I was 17, plus I recently had a random bout of warts (which is considered to be in the herpes family). Is this something that I should be concerned about if I was to ever have my colon removed??
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