BK virus salivary shedding and viremia in renal transplant recipients

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to verify the presence of polyomavirus BK (BKPyV) in the saliva of kidney transplant recipients and to correlate it with blood viremia. Material and Methods: We have conducted a cross-sectional study with a sample involving 126 renal transplant recipients. 126 samples of saliva and 52 samples of blood were collected from these patients. Detection and quantification of BKPyV were performed using a real-time PCR. To compare the presence of BKPyV in blood and saliva, the binomial proportion test was used. To verify associations between salivary shedding BKPyV and post-transplant periods (in months), the Mann-Whitney test was used. Spearman's correlation was used to correlate the viral load in the saliva with blood of kidney transplant recipients. Results: The mean age of the study group was 51.11±12.45 years old, and 69 participants (54.8%) were female, with a mean post-transplantation time of 4.80±6.04 months. BKPyV was quantified in several samples of saliva and blood, with medians of 1,108 cp/mL and 1,255 cp/mL, respectively. Only 16/52 (30.8%) participants presented BKPyV in blood, and 59/126 (46.8%) excreted the virus in saliva (p=0.004). BKPyV shedding was found in patients at a shorter post-transplantation period (3.86±5.25, p=0.100). A weak correlation was observed between viral quantification in saliva and blood (Spearman's correlation coefficient=0.193). Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that, although saliva excretes more BKPyV than blood, there is no reliable correlation between salivary shedding and blood viremia, showing two independent compartments of viral replication.

Detection of polyomavirus microRNA-5p expression in saliva shortly after kidney transplantation

“…These results suggested that the high positivity for polyomavirus miRNA-5p in saliva can plays a potential auto-regulation role in the polyomavirus replication in these subjects by reducing the presence of polyomavirus DNA in the oral cavity [38]. Of note, studies investigating the presence or absence of BKPyV, JCPyV, and MCPyV DNA in the saliva or oropharyngeal washes collected from immunocompromised patients and healthy subjects confirm the possibility of a low-replicative form of polyomavirus in the oral cavity [24][25][26][27][28]51,52]. Thus, the reported variation in the status of JCPyV-miRNA-5p in the saliva shortly after transplantation may be implicated in the subsequent polyomavirus reactivation, which can occur in the host after extended immunosuppression and might be associated with the development of polyomavirusassociated diseases.…”

“…An increasing evidence has suggested that there is a connection between human polyomaviruses and the oral compartment [1,[24][25][26][27][28], meaning that saliva can be used as an additional biological fluid to assess the polyomavirus status. Therefore, saliva has gained an increased interest as a non-invasive screening approach to facilitate detection of new cases and monitor previously known cases [19].…”

Translating genomic exploration of the family Polyomaviridae into confident human polyomavirus detection

“…To extend utility of our in silico qPCR evaluation strategy, we applied it to a substantial subset of BKPyV qPCRs described in literature. A database of 52 BKPyV-specific qPCRs taken from 32 papers ( Bárcena-Panero et al., 2012 ; Bergallo et al., 2018 ; Bressollette-Bodin et al., 2005 ; Dadhania et al., 2008 ; Delbue et al., 2015 ; Dumoulin and Hirsch, 2011 ; Funahashi et al., 2010 ; Gard et al., 2015 ; Greer et al., 2015 ; Gustafsson et al., 2013 ; Hammarin et al., 2011 ; Hasan et al., 2016 ; Hoffman et al., 2008 ; Kamminga et al., 2019 ; Keith et al., 2018 ; Ledesma et al., 2012 ; Marchetti et al., 2007 ; Marinelli et al., 2007 ; Mitui et al., 2013 ; Muldrew and Lovett, 2013 ; Pal et al., 2006 ; Pang et al., 2007 ; Pietilä et al., 2015 ; Priftakis et al., 2003 ; Ryschkewitsch et al., 2004 ; Şahiner et al., 2014 ; Sarmento et al., 2019 ; Signorini et al., 2014 ; Si-Mohamed et al., 2006 ; Stolt et al., 2005 ; Thomas et al., 2007 ; Yamamoto et al., 2015 ) was created by searching PubMed using a text-mining approach detailed in the STAR methods section. Each selected BKPyV qPCR is listed in Table S1 with its reference, original and adjusted Ta values, and degeneracy of its oligos.…”