Organ transplantation is one of the greatest medical achievements of the twentieth century, extending the lives and improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. Numerous acts of self-sacrifice on the part of organ donors and their families, as well as numerous significant scientific and clinical advances made by physicians, have turned transplantation into not only a way to save lives, but also a symbol of human solidarity [1].
Every year in Ukraine, about 5,000 people need organ transplants. For them, this operation is the only chance for life. For decades after independence, the issue of saving people in need of transplants was “up in the air”. Only a few posthumous organ transplants were performed. At the same time, only a few dozen transplants were performed from living donors.
The turning point in transplantation was the adoption of amendments to the Law “On the Use of Transplantation of Anatomical Materials to Humans” of December 20, 2019. At the same time, after a significant break, a heart and kidney transplant from a deceased donor was performed at the Kovel District Hospital with the participation of doctors from the capital [2].
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Immunocompromised patients are particularly vulnerable to common or opportunistic viral infections. They often occur after solid organ or hematopoietic cell transplantation, with morbidity and mortality rates of up to 40%. Such infections can originate from the donor, be out-of-hospital acquired, or correspond to the reactivation of existing latent endogenous viruses in the patient.
Successful prevention and early detection of viral infections, including reactivation, are the basic principles of transplant patient management. For effective strategies of preventive and therapeutic treatment, accurate quantification of viral load is important. As a rule, in immunocompromised organisms, the reactivation of several viruses can occur simultaneously, making a comprehensive identification of replicating pathogenic viruses extremely important. Monitoring of opportunistic viral infections in patients after transplantation is most often performed using several quantitative PCR assays.
Among the manufacturers of molecular diagnostic kits for testing immunocompromised patients or transplanted organs for PCR is the world-renowned company GeneProof.
GeneProof is a biotechnology company operating in the field of in vitro molecular diagnostics of serious infections and genetic diseases [3].
GeneProof's portfolio is primarily focused on infectious diseases of viral and bacterial origin. With a strong focus on quality, GeneProof offers technologically advanced real-time PCR kits [4].
GeneProof's solutions for diagnosing immunocompromised patients or organ transplant recipients include the following kits:
- GeneProof Cytomegalovirus (CMV) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof BK Virus (BKV) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof JC Virus (JCV) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Adenovirus PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Aspergillus PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1/2) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Human Herpesvirus 6/7 (HHV-6/7) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Parvovirus B19 PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) PCR Kit;
- GeneProof Universal Internal Control.