Immunological evidence of an early seroconversion to oncogenic Merkel cell polyomavirus in healthy children and young adults

Abstract

Oncogenic Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) provokes a widespread and asymptomatic infection in humans. Herein, sera from healthy children and young adults (HC, n = 344) aged 0-20 years old were evaluated for anti-MCPyV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies employing a recently developed immunoassay.Serum MCPyV IgG data from healthy subjects (HS, n = 510) and elderlies (ES, n = 226), aged 21-65/66-100 years old, from our previous studies, were included.The anti-MCPyV IgG and IgM rates in HC sera were 40.7% and 29.7%, respectively. A lower prevalence of anti-MCPyV IgGs was found in HC aged 0-5 years old (13%) compared to 6-10 (52.3%), 11-15 (60.5%) and 16-20 years old (61.6%) cohorts. Age-stratified HCs exhibited similar anti-MCPyV IgM rates (27.9%-32.9%). Serological profiles indicated that anti-MCPyV IgGs and IgMs had low optical densities (ODs) during the first years of life, while IgM ODs appeared to decrease throughout young adulthood. A lower anti-MCPyV IgGs rate was found in HC (40.7%) than HS (61.8%) and ES (63.7%). Upon the 5-years range age-stratification, a lower anti-MCPyV IgGs rate was found in the younger HC cohort aged 0-5 years old compared to the remaining older HC/HS/ES cohorts (52.3%-72%).The younger HC cohort exhibited the lowest anti-MCPyV IgG ODs than the older cohorts. Low anti-MCPyV IgMs rates and ODs were found in the 21-25 (17.5%) and 26-30 (7.7%) years old cohorts. Our data indicate that, upon an early-in-life seroconversion, the seropositivity for oncogenic MCPyV peaks in late childhood/ young adulthood and remains at high prevalence and relatively stable throughout life.

Prevalence of IgG antibodies against Malawi polyomavirus in patients with autoimmune diseases and lymphoproliferative disorders subjected to bone marrow transplantation

“…A similar seroprevalence was found in the HS cohort compared with patient cohorts as previously reported ( p > 0.05) ( 6 ). Indeed, in previous studies, the prevalence of anti-MCPyV IgGs tested in HS, aged 11–15 years old, was 60.5%, and in HS, aged 18–30 years old, the prevalence was 63.1% ( 6 , 30 ).…”

“…The indirect ELISA was developed and validated to detect specific IgGs against MCPyV. MCPyV VP1 S and VP2 F peptides/mimotopes were employed (Thermo, Milan, Italy) ( 6 , 30 ). Plates were coated with 5 μg of peptide for each well and diluted in 100 μl of Coating Buffer 1X (Candor Bioscience, Wangen, Germany).…”

“…Sera were considered MCPyV-positive when reacting to both S and F peptides. Control sera in each plate were included as reported ( 6 , 30 ).…”

Risk of Multiple Primary Cancers in Patients With Merkel Cell Carcinoma

“…2 While the incidence of most solid organ tumors peaks in the 7th decade of life, MCC incidence continues to rise exponentially with increasing age, suggesting that immunosenescence may play a role in MCC etiology. 3 A better understanding of the development of subsequent primary cancers in patients with MCC may provide additional insights on the causes of this highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumor. The survival of patients with MCC has increased in recent years largely due to the advent of immunotherapy.…”