Detection of BK virus and simian virus 40 in the urine of healthy children

Abstract

Seroprevalence studies indicate that most primary infections with BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV) occur in the first and second decades of life, respectively. Relatively little is known about the transmission of these agents, including the primary source of human exposure, the portal of entry, and the pathophysiology of life-long viral persistence. We sought to determine if simian virus 40 (SV40) excretion could be detected in the urine of healthy children and to define the age-related prevalence of polyomavirus shedding in this population. A point prevalence study of polyomavirus shedding was conducted in healthy children using rigorous enrollment criteria. Urine samples were collected from healthy children, age from 3 to 18 years, during routine evaluation at two urban pediatric clinics. Qualitative PCR analysis was performed using primers that detect a conserved region of the T-antigen gene of BKV, JCV, and SV40. The identity of polyomaviruses detected was determined by DNA sequence analysis and/or PCR amplification of other regions of the viral genomes. Seven of 72 (9.7%) urine samples were positive for polyomaviruses: three with BKV (ages 4, 6, 13), two with SV40 (ages 6, 16), two with BKV and SV40 co-excretion (ages 6, 15), and none with JCV. DNA sequence analysis confirmed the identity of viruses detected. These results suggest that the timing of SV40 infections in humans may be similar to that of BKV and that urine from healthy children could contribute to the ubiquity of BKV infection early in life.

High prevalence of serum antibodies reacting with simian virus 40 capsid protein mimotopes in patients affected by malignant pleural mesothelioma

“…that different routes of transmission are responsible for SV40 infection (37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45).…”

Detection of polyomavirus SV40 in tonsils from immunocompetent children

“…Primers PYVfor/PYVrev directed at a conserved sequence in the amino (N)-terminus of the large T-antigen (T-ag) gene of BKV, JCV, and SV40 were used for viral analysis (Bergsagel et al, 1992;Lednicky et al, 1995). Our laboratory has established the use of these primers to detect BKV and JCV in clinical samples (Thomas et al, 2007;Vanchiere et al, 2005aVanchiere et al, , 2005b as well as SV40 (Meneses et al, 2005;Thomas et al, 2007;Vilchez et al, 2002b). Primers TP1Q3/TP1Q5 were used to detect EBV latent membrane protein 2a (LMP2a) gene sequences (Vilchez et al, 2002a).…”

“…BKV, JCV, and SV40 have been detected in a variety of organ systems including urinary, central nervous, and gastrointestinal (Khalili and Stoner, 2001;Major et al, 1992;Vanchiere et al, 2005aVanchiere et al, , 2005b. This suggests that the pathogenesis of these viruses involves dissemination within the host.…”

Polyomavirus Shedding in the Stool of Healthy Adults

“…JCV has been detected in both colon and gastric cancers and adjacent normal tissues, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tract is a site of JCV persistence, but it has not previously been detected in feces (23,30,34,39). SV40 has been detected in urine and feces from humans and in mixed fecal and urine specimens from cynomolgus monkeys (3,39,40).Despite the ubiquity of BKV infection, its route of transmission has not been clearly determined. In addition to urinary excretion, BKV has been detected rarely in respiratory secretions and tonsil tissue (16, 37).…”