HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dolei, A. Articles by Degener, A. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dolei, A. Articles by Degener, A. M. Agricola Articles by Dolei, A. Articles by Degener, A. M.

Polyomavirus persistence in lymphocytes: prevalence in lymphocytes from blood donors and healthy personnel of a blood transfusion centre

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43B, I-07100 Sassari, Italy¹
Institute of Microbiology, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy²
Immunohaematology Unit, ASL1 Blood Transfusion Centre, Sassari, Italy³
National Blood Transfusion Centre, Italian Red Cross, Rome, Italy⁴
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy⁵

Author for correspondence: Antonina Dolei. Fax +39 079 212345. e-mail doleivir{at}ssmain.uniss.it

BK and JC polyomaviruses (BKV and JCV) are widespread in humans and are thought to persist and reactivate under immune alterations. In addition to the kidney, lymphoid cells have been proposed as a site of latency. However, while this was shown to occur in immunocompromised patients, discordant data were published for healthy humans. To help to solve this issue, an extensive study (231 healthy subjects) was carried out on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from blood donors of two towns and from operators of a blood transfusion centre. To discriminate between past and recent infection, nested PCRs for BKV and JCV non-coding control region (NCCR) and VP1 DNA sequences were carried out. Twenty-two per cent of subjects had BKV NCCR, but only 7% also had BKV VP1, as detected by PCR assays of similar sensitivities; the latter positivity was found to decrease with age. In both towns, the BKV WW archetypal DDP strain, subtype I, was found. Only 0·9% of subjects contained JCV DNA, for both NCCR and VP1. Blood operators presented a statistically significant increased prevalence of BKV NCCR (3·0-fold) and BKV VP1 (9·4-fold) sequences with respect to blood donors of comparable ages, suggesting the possibility of occupational risk of BKV (re)infection or reactivation. Since the possibility of amplifying BKV VP1 sequences from PBMC of healthy humans is lost with age, this suggests that PBMC are not a site of polyomavirus persistence in healthy individuals and that detection of BKV VP1 DNA in PBMC is probably indicative of recent infection or reactivation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Costa, M. Bergallo, S. Astegiano, M. E. Terlizzi, F. Sidoti, G. P. Segoloni, and R. Cavallo Monitoring of BK virus replication in the first year following renal transplantation Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., October 1, 2008; 23(10): 3333 - 3336. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Colla, P. Mesiano, V. Morellini, L. Besso, R. Cavallo, M. Bergallo, C. Costa, C. Merlino, C. Marcuccio, F. Fop, et al. Human polyomavirus BK in patients with lupus nephritis: clinical and histological correlations Lupus, November 1, 2007; 16(11): 881 - 886. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Egli, S. Binggeli, S. Bodaghi, A. Dumoulin, G. A. Funk, N. Khanna, D. Leuenberger, R. Gosert, and H. H. Hirsch Cytomegalovirus and polyomavirus BK posttransplant Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., September 1, 2007; 22(suppl_8): viii72 - viii82. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]