Excretion of the novel polyomaviruses KI and WU in the stool of patients with hematological disorders

Abstract

Infection with human polyomaviruses BKV and JCV is asymptomatic, and lifelong and widespread, among the general population. However, in the setting of immunosuppression, secondary to medications or viral infection, for example, with HIV, reactivation can occur and result in severe disease. In this study, stool specimens from 31 patients with hematological disorders (25 transplanted and 6 non-transplanted) were examined prospectively to determine whether the novel polyomaviruses KIV and WUV reactivated and were excreted in the gastrointestinal tract. Reactivation was correlated with the appearance of gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms. Of the 31 patients examined, KIV and WUV were detected in 13 transplanted patients as single infection or in combination with BKV, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and adenovirus (Adv). Because of frequent co-infections, a clear correlation between novel polyomaviruses and clinical symptoms could not be established. There was no correlation between demographic variables and detection of KIV and WUV. Phylogenetic analysis of the small t-antigen gene of KIV and WUV isolates showed that the novel polyomaviruses identified in feces clustered with those identified in the respiratory tract suggesting an oral-fecal transmission of these viruses. The novel polyomaviruses KI and WU may have a pathogenic role in immunocompromised patients.

The human polyomaviruses KI and WU: virological background and clinical implications

“…Following this finding, other body compartments and specimen types have been screened: stool (6,17,23,(46)(47)(48), whole blood (45,48), plasma (18,49,50), serum (49), cerebrospinal fluid (51), lymphoid tissue (16,40,47), urine (6,7,48), and lung tissue (24,52). Detection rates of KIPyV and WUPyV in biological specimens are reported in Tables 1 and 2.…”

“…KIPyV detection in stool samples has to take into account in the presence of immunocompromised patients with gastrointestinal symptoms (17,23), in particular HSCT patients.…”

Identification of the novel KI and WU polyomaviruses in human tonsils

“…18,19 The amplified fragments were sequenced using the Genome Lab DTCS Quick Start Kit (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA) and run on a Beckman Coulter CEQ2000XL sequence analyzer after column purification. The obtained sequences were submitted to the Genbank and matched against all deposited sequences (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST).…”

WU polyomavirus infection among children in South China

“…Viruses can cause acute respiratory tract infection in children and these viruses include the human metapneumovirus and parvovirus, apart from influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus (PIV) 1 and 3, and adenovirus [Van den Hoogen et al, 2001;Allander et al, 2005]. Recently, two new viruses, WU polyomavirus (WUPyV) and KI polyomavirus (KIPyV), have been found to be associated with acute respiratory tract infection in children [Allander et al, 2007;Gaynor et al, 2007;Babakir-Mina et al, 2009;Mueller et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2009], although the importance of WUPyV in acute respiratory tract infection in children is not supported by another report [Norja et al, 2007]. Whole genome analysis has identified three main clades and five subtypes of WUPyV [Bialasiewicz et al, 2010].…”