Persistence of novel human parvovirus PARV4 in liver tissue of adults

Abstract

Human parvovirus 4 (PARV4) is a recently identified virus whose biology, epidemiology and pathogenic potential have yet to be determined. Recently, it was reported that PARV4 DNA persists in tissues of some HIV-infected individuals, whilst PARV4 DNA was not detected in tissues of subjects not infected with HIV. In the present study, liver tissue from 87 individuals, none of who were infected with HIV, with the exception of a single subject, was analyzed for the presence of PARV4 DNA. Overall, PARV4 DNA was detected in 13 specimens (15%). In other tissues examined, PARV4 genotype 2 (also termed PARV5) DNA was detected in one of four paired bone marrow specimens. Tissue viral loads did not exceed 100 copies per microg of genomic DNA. In addition, serum samples from 40 of these individuals all tested negative for PARV4 DNA. In the subjects analyzed in this study, PARV4 genotype 2 appeared to be genetically more heterogeneous than PARV4 genotype 1. The results show that PARV4 DNA can be detected in liver, and that infection with PARV4 is not restricted to HIV-infected individuals. Previous studies showing the presence of PARV4 in plasma, suggest that during infection with PARV4, a viraemic stage occurs, allowing systemic spread to a variety of tissues.

A third genotype of the human parvovirus PARV4 in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Rather than showing different geographical distributions, analysis of the age distributions of PARV4-infected study subjects revealed a marked transition from predominantly genotype 2 infections among IDUs first parenterally exposed in the 1980s to entirely genotype 1 infections among those infected from the 1990s onwards . Similarly distinct age ranges were observed among study subjects from Germany infected with genotypes 1 and 2 through IDU or other parenteral risk factors, where identified (Schneider et al, 2008). Although the change in PARV4 genotypes in the UK and Germany cannot be assumed to have necessarily occurred concurrently, these observations provide further examples of the proposed Bioportfolio (Norja et al, 2006), a term first coined to describe the ability of viruses persisting in tissues to record previous changes in genotype distributions over time; the original description was that of the replacement of parvovirus B19 genotype 2 with genotype 1 in the 1960s throughout Europe and other Western countries.…”

“…PARV4 is not closely related to any other parvovirus described to date, and may constitute a new group within the parvovirus family. Detection of PARV4 infections has to date been restricted to pooled plasma or plasma-derived blood products (Fryer et al, 2006(Fryer et al, , 2007b and to autopsy samples of lymphoid tissue, bone marrow or liver from study subjects in the USA and Europe Simmonds et al, 2007;Longhi et al, 2007;Fryer et al, 2007d;Schneider et al, 2008). Compared with other parvoviruses, which are predominantly transmitted through respiratory routes, PARV4 infections show an unusual risk-group association.…”

Human parvoviruses B19, PARV4 and bocavirus in pediatric patients with allogeneic hematopoietic SCT

“…6,[34][35][36] The viral DNA has been shown to persist in lymphoid and some other tissues. [37][38][39][40][41] The virus is most frequently detected in persons with a history of i.v. drug use or as co-infections with other parenterally transmitted viruses, such as HIV or hepatitis C and B.…”

“…37,[42][43][44][45] Viremia seems to accompany acute PARV4 infection, and the viral DNA has been demonstrated also in blood products, indicating a risk for parenteral transmission. 34,39,[42][43] The seroprevalence in Northern Europe reaches 78% among HIV-positive i.v. drug users, but is negligible among non-users.…”

Human Parvovirus 4 in Kidney Transplant Patients, France

“…PARV4 was also identifi ed in clotting factor VIII concentrate and in plasma pools negative for parvovirus B19 DNA (5,6). This new virus appears to not be restricted solely to blood samples; it has been already identifi ed in bone marrow, in various autopsy tissue samples from patients with AIDS, and in liver tissues of persons with liver dysfunctions (7)(8)(9). Typical amounts of PARV4 DNA identifi ed in the various samples tested ranged from <500 to >10 6 copies/mL.…”