BK polyomavirus (BKV) is ubiquitous in human populations, infecting children asymptomatically and then persisting in the kidney. Using either serological or genotyping methods, BKV isolates have been classified into four subtypes (I-IV), with subtype I mainly detected in all countries studied so far. To elucidate the subtype of BKV prevalent in East Asia, we examined BKV-positive urine samples collected from immunocompetent elderly patients in Mongolia, Northeast China, Northwest China, Southeast China, Southwest China, Vietnam and Japan. The 287-bp typing region of the viral genome in each of these samples was PCR-amplified and sequenced, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. According to the tree, BKV isolates in East Asia were unambiguously classified into subtype I or IV (subtypes II and III were not detected). In Japan, subtype I was mainly detected and subtype IV was rare, whereas in the other regions subtype IV was detected frequently, at rates ranging from 24 to 100%. Thus, East Asia (excluding Japan) is a region in which subtype-IV BKV is prevalent, a finding that requires the view of the geographic distribution of BKV subtypes to be revised. Furthermore, we present evidence that the immunological states of urine donors do not affect the pattern of BKV subtypes.
JC polyomavirus (JCV), the etiological agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, is ubiquitous in humans, infecting children asymptomatically, then persisting in renal tissue. It has been proposed that JCV is transmitted mainly from parents to children through long-term cohabitation. The objective of this study was to further elucidate the mode of JCV transmission. In 5 families, we selected parent/child pairs between whom JCV was probably transmitted (judged on the basis of the identity of a 610-bp JCV DNA sequence between the parent and child). We established 5 to 9 complete JCV DNA clones from the urine of each parent or child. The complete sequences of these clones were determined and compared in each family. Nucleotide substitutions were detected in 4 parents and 1 child, and sequence rearrangements (deletions or duplications) were found in 2 parents and 2 children. Phylogenetic comparison of the detected sequences indicated that the diversity of JCV DNA sequences was generated in each family (i.e. not caused by multiple infection). We found that in 4 of the 5 families, a sequence detected in the parent was completely identical to one in the child. These findings provided further support for the proposed mode of JCV transmission, i.e. parent-to-child transmission during cohabitation.
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