Mapping of Human Polyomavirus in Renal Cell Carcinoma Tissues.

Worldwide, the incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is rising, accounting for approximately 2% of all cancer diagnoses and deaths. The etiology of RCC is still obscure. Here, we assessed the presence of HPyVs in paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE) resected tissue from patients with RCC by using different molecular techniques. Fifty-five FFPE tissues from 11 RCC patients were included in this study. Consensus and HPyV-specific primers were used to screen for HPyVs. Both PCR approaches revealed that HPyV is frequently detected in the tissues of RCC kidney resections. A total of 78% (43/55) of the tissues tested were positive for at least one HPyV (i.e., MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7, BKPyV, JCPyV, or WUyV). Additionally, 25 tissues (45%) were positive for only one HPyV, 14 (25%) for two HPyVs, 3 (5%) for three HPyVs, and 1 one (1%) tissue specimen was positive for four HPyVs. Eleven (20%) RCC specimens were completely devoid of HPyV sequences. MCPyV was found in 24/55 RCC tissues, HPyV7 in 19, and HPyV6 in 8. The presence of MCPyV and HPyV6 was confirmed by specific FISH or RNA-ISH. In addition, we aimed to confirm HPyV gene expression by IHC. Our results strongly indicate that these HPyVs infect RCC and nontumor tissues, possibly indicating that kidney tissues serve as a reservoir for HPyV latency. Whether HPyVs possibly contribute to the etiopathogenesis of RCC remains to be elucidated.

DNA and seroprevalence study of MW and STL polyomaviruses.

The clinical importance and the pathogenesis of the MW and STL polyomaviruses (PyVs) remain unclear. Our aim was to study the seroprevalence of MWPyV and STLPyV, and to examine the prevalence of viral DNA in respiratory samples and secondary lymphoid tissues. In total, 618 serum samples (0.8-90 years) were analyzed for seroprevalence. For the DNA prevalence study, 146 patients (2.5-37.5 years) were sampled for adenoids (n = 100), tonsils (n = 100), throat swabs (n = 146), and middle ear discharge (n = 15) in study Group 1. In Group 2, we analyzed 1130 nasopharyngeal samples from patients (0.8-92 years) tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The adult seropositivity was 54% for MWPyV, and 81.2% for STLPyV. Both seroprevalence rates increased with age; however, the majority of STLPyV primary infections appeared to occur in children. MWPyV was detected in 2.7%-4.9% of respiratory samples, and in a middle ear discharge. STLPyV DNA prevalence was 1.4%-3.4% in swab samples, and it was detected in an adenoid and in a middle ear discharge. The prevalence of both viruses was significantly higher in the children. Noncoding control regions of both viruses and the complete genomes of STLPyV were sequenced. MWPyV and STLPyV are widespread viruses, and respiratory transmission may be possible.

Case-control study: Unveiling human polyomaviruses and papillomavirus in Egyptian colorectal cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a cancer type that is thought to be influenced by human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and human polyomaviruses (HPyVs). In Egypt, CRC ranks as the 7th most common cancer, accounting for 3.47% of male cancers and 3% of female cancers. However, there is currently a lack of information regarding the presence of PyVs and HPVs co-infection specifically in CRC cases in Egypt. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of HPVs and HPyVs (JCPyV, BKPyV, and SV40) infections, as well as co-infections, among CRC patients in Egypt. Additionally, the study aimed to assess any potential association between these viral infections and tumor stages. METHODS: In the present study, we analyzed a total of 51 tissue samples obtained from Egyptian CRC patients, along with 19 polyps' samples. Our investigation focused on the detection and genotyping of HPyVs using Real-Time PCR. Additionally, we employed real-time PCR for the detection of HPVs, and for their genotyping, we utilized a combination of PCR amplification followed by sequencing. RESULTS: In our study, we found evidence of HPyVs infection in the CRC patients, specifically SV40 (25.5%) and BKPyV (19.6%). However, JCPyV was not detected in the samples that were examined. Additionally, we discovered that HPV was present in 43.1% of the CRC patients. When considering viral co-infections, 19.6% of the CRC samples showed coexistence of multiple viruses, while no co-infections were found in the polyps samples. Importantly, we observed a significant correlation between the presence of HPVs and advanced colorectal tumor grades B2 and D. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide valuable data for the detection of oncogenic viruses in colorectal cancer (CRC) and underscore the association of viral co-infections with advanced tumor stages. However, further research with larger cohorts is necessary to validate these findings and strengthen their significance in the field of CRC.

Seasonality of respiratory, enteric, and urinary viruses revealed by wastewater genomic surveillance.

Wastewater surveillance can reveal population-level infectious disease burden and emergent public health threats can be reliably assessed through wastewater surveillance. While molecular methods for wastewater monitoring of microorganisms have traditionally relied on PCR-based approaches, next-generation sequencing (NGS) can provide deeper insights via genomic analyses of multiple diverse pathogens. We conducted a year-long sequencing surveillance of 1,408 composite wastewater samples collected from 12 neighborhood-level access points in the greater Tempe area, Arizona, USA, and show that variation in wastewater viruses is driven by seasonal time and location. The temporal dynamics of viruses in wastewater were influenced cyclically, with the most dissimilarity between samples 23 weeks apart (i.e., winter vs summer, spring vs fall). We identified diverse urinary and enteric viruses including polyomaviruses, astroviruses, and noroviruses, and showed that their genotypes/subtypes shifted across seasons. We show that while wastewater data of certain respiratory viruses like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strongly correlate with clinical case rates, laboratory-reported case incidences were discordant with surges of high viral load in wastewater for other viruses like human coronavirus 229E. These results demonstrate the utility of wastewater sequencing for informing decision-making in public health.IMPORTANCEWastewater surveillance can provide insights into the spread of pathogens in communities. Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) methodologies allow for more precise detection of viruses in wastewater. Long-term wastewater surveillance of viruses is an important tool for public health preparedness. This system can act as a public health observatory that gives real-time early warning for infectious disease outbreaks and improved response times.

Presence of herpesviruses, parvoviruses, and polyomaviruses in sinonasal lymphoma.

PURPOSE: Sinonasal lymphoma (SL) is a rare lymphatic neoplasm of the nasal cavities, paranasal sinuses and nasopharynx. Whereas some risk factors for SL subtypes have been identified, their aetiology is unknown. Along with other predisposing factors, the viral association of lymphomas, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Burkitt and Hodgkin lymphomas, is well-established. Modern molecular biology techniques have enabled the discovery of novel human viruses, exemplified by the protoparvovirus cutavirus (CuV), associated with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. These findings, and the anatomical location of the sinonasal tract with its rich microbiome and infectious agents, justify in-depth studies among SL. METHODS: We analysed the presence of 20 viruses of Orthoherpesviridae, Parvoviridae, and Polyomaviridae by qPCR in 24 SL tumours. We performed RNAscope in situ hybridisation (RISH) to localize the viruses. Parvovirus-specific IgG was analysed by enzyme immunoassay and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied to detect CuV in plasma. RESULTS: We detected viral DNA in 15/24 (63%) tumours; nine of EBV, six of human herpesvirus (HHV) -7, four each of HHV-6B and parvovirus B19, two of cytomegalovirus, and one each of CuV and Merkel-cell polyomavirus. We found tumours with up to four viruses per tumour, and localized CuV and EBV DNAs by RISH. Two of the ten plasma samples exhibited CuV IgG, and one plasma sample demonstrated CuV viremia by NGS. CONCLUSION: Viruses were frequent findings in SL. The EBV detection rate was high in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and co-detections with other viruses were prevalent.

Avian Polyomavirus Among Psittacine Birds in Iran: Molecular Detection Rate and Associated Risk Factors.

Avian polyomavirus (APV) infection causes various health problems in psittacine species, including death. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of APV among psittacine birds in Iran. We also aimed to evaluate the impact of age, sex, species, season, and origin of the birds on the prevalence of APV. This study investigated the presence of APV among 1050 individual birds from 7 psittacine species over a 1-year period in Iran, namely, green-cheeked parakeets (Pyrrhura molinae), rosy-faced lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis), monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus), sun conures (Aratinga solstitialis), Senegal parrots (Poicephalus senegalus), cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus), and grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). The overall prevalence of APV in all studied species was 25% (263/1050, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 22.5-27.8). Results of the study showed that age and the season of the year were 2 important determinant factors in the prevalence of APV in psittacine birds. Young psittacine birds <6 months old were 2.94 (95% CI: 1.19-7.27) times more likely to be infected with APV than birds >1 year old, and there was a significant interaction between season and species in the multivariate analysis. In the winter season, rosy-faced lovebirds and green-cheeked parakeets were 15.6 (95% CI: 4.20-57.95) and 4.76 (95% CI: 1.4-16.21) times more likely to be infected with APV than in other seasons, respectively. This is the first report on the detection rate of APV in psittacine birds in Iran.

Tumor de células de merkel: revisión de la literatura / Merkel cell tumor: review of literature

El carcinoma de Merkel es un carcinoma primario cutáneo infrecuente. Es una enfermedad potencialmente fatal, con escasa sobrevida en los casos avanzados. Recientemente Feng y col. (2008) identificaron ADN de un nuevo poliomavirus clonalmente integrado en varios casos de carcinoma de Merkel. Esto apoya la posibilidad que dicho virus se encuentre implicado al menos en algunos casos de esta patología. El carcinoma de Merkel carece de características clínicas distintivas, aunque un dato significativo es su rápido crecimiento. Afecta principalmente áreas fotoexpuestas (la mitad de los tumores se localizan en cabeza y cuello) de pacientes añosos. La gran mayoría de ellos se presentan con enfermedad localizada hasta un 30% tiene compromiso de ganglios linfáticos regionales. A pesar de la resección local, las metástasis linfáticas regionales y a distancia son frecuentes y generalmente ocurren en los primeros 2 años del diagnóstico. El tratamiento óptimo aún es incierto, pero los mejores resultados se alcanzan con un manejo interdisciplinario.