# CMV and CMV-Immune Responses in Geriatric Conditions Post-Kidney Transplant (CMV-GeriKT)

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2021 · $188,816

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Chronic infections like cytomegalovirus (CMV) may contribute to both cognitive and physical function decline in
older adults and have been implicated in the development of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), vascular dementia,
and frailty. Due to immune senescence and immune suppression, older Kidney Transplant (KT) recipients ≥50
years, are at especially high risk of early and frequent reactivations of latent CMV and may fail to reconstitute
CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMV-CMI), leading to high rates of CMV disease. This research will
investigate for the first time the role of CMV and CMV-CMI reconstitution in cognitive and physical functional
decline in KT recipients. This research is relevant to the NIA mission because it will advance the understanding
of the critical mechanisms driving CMV-related aging in older adults by studying the impact of CMV on decline
in cognitive and physical function, AD, and frailty.
 This proposal's central hypothesis is that inflammation secondary to CMV replication may explain the
mechanism by which CMV may contribute to cognitive and physical function decline, AD, and progression of
frailty. This hypothesis will be tested through the following specific aims: 1) To quantify the association of CMV
serostatus with trajectories of cognition and physical function in an existing Functional Assessment of Renal
Disease (FAIR) cohort of older KT recipients; 2) To assess the relationship of CMV-CMI reconstitution with
trajectories of cognitive and physical function and frailty in a newly established Colorado cohort of CMV+ older
KT recipients; 3) To investigate the relationship of inflammatory markers with trajectories of cognition and
physical function among CMV+ and CMV- KT recipients at 1-year post-KT in Colorado cohort.
 This approach is innovative because it: 1) allows the first investigation of the relationship of CMV, with
the trajectories of cognitive and physical function among older KT recipients, and 2) may identify the role of
CMV-CMI and inflammation driving the relationship of CMV with cognitive and physical function decline. This
project is significant because it has the potential to improve health outcomes for older KT recipients.
Complimentary to the proposed research plan, a five-year mentored career development training plan has
been devised that incorporates research training in geriatrics and viral immunology. The candidate is co-
mentored by internationally recognized experts in gerontology, viral immunology, kidney transplantation, and
epidemiology. The candidate's long-term career goal is to become an independent investigator studying
immune protection in the context of chronic viral infections with geriatric outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10282428
- **Project number:** 1K23AG073534-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Maheen Zehra Abidi
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $188,816
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10282428

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10282428, CMV and CMV-Immune Responses in Geriatric Conditions Post-Kidney Transplant (CMV-GeriKT) (1K23AG073534-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10282428. Licensed CC0.

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