Frequent detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in tissues from 10 consecutive autopsies.
J Gen Virol
; 98(6): 1372-1376, 2017 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28613147
ABSTRACT
Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has been identified in samples of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive skin cancer. Seroepidemiologic studies indicated a high frequency of MCPyV infection in humans, suggesting respiratory and faecal-oral routes, or transmission by skin contact. Since MCC is more frequent in immunocompromised patients, a reactivation of MCPyV latently infecting target cells has been proposed. However, neither definite ways of transmission nor specific target organs have been identified with certainty. Ten autopsies with an extensive organ sampling for a total of 121 specimens (tissue and blood samples) were collected. All tissue specimens were fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the copy number of the large T antigen (LT) gene and the capsid VP1 gene of MCPyV. MCPyV LT and/or VP genes were detected in all of the collected specimens. A high prevalence of MCPyV was found in the blood (six cases) and lung (five cases); the brain was positive in three cases. The highest viral copy number was detected in blood from two autopsies (21â610â570.09 copies per 105 cells and 380â413.25 copies per 105 cells), whereas the viral copy number in the other organs was low. Our data confirm the high frequency of MCPyV infection in the general population, which seems to indicate that the respiratory tract is a possible route for viral transmission and viral persistence in the brain. The frequent detection of MCPyV DNA in blood suggests that circulating leukocytes could be one of the reservoirs of MCPyV, whereas the high viral copy number also seems to indicate the possibility of viral reactivation in immunocompetent adults.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Autopsia
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Infecciones Tumorales por Virus
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ADN Viral
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Infecciones por Polyomavirus
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Poliomavirus de Células de Merkel
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Gen Virol
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia