The human pegivirus: A new name for an “ancient” virus. Can transfusion medicine come up with something new?

Abstract

Human pegivirus (HPgV, formerly called GB virus C/hepatitis G virus) is a poorly understood RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family. The HPgV infection is common worldwide and the virus is likely transmitted by blood products. At this time, no causal association between HPgV and human diseases has been identified. While waiting for new findings to better understand the Pegivirus genus, the aim of our narrative review is to discuss the currently available information on HPgV focusing on its prevalence in blood donors and its potential threat to transfusion safety.

Human pegivirus isolates characterized by deep sequencing from hepatitis C virus‐RNA and human immunodeficiency virus‐RNA–positive blood donations, France

“…Such moderate divergence values, also observed (up to 14% genetic diversity) when including 30 HPgV genotypes 1 to 6 reference sequences, were considered as typical for members of this viral group . Thus, the observed genetic diversity among French genotype 2 isolates is consistent with well known aspects of pegiviruses natural history, that is, a very probable long‐term presence and coevolution of the virus with humans, combined with multiple routes of transmission, persistent asymptomatic infections, and high rates of mutation/replication …”

“…34 Thus, the observed genetic diversity among French genotype 2 isolates is consistent with well known aspects of pegiviruses natural history, that is, a very probable long-term presence and coevolution of the virus with humans, combined with multiple routes of transmission, persistent asymptomatic infections, and high rates of mutation/ replication. 2,11,25,27,34 Genomic sequences characterized here did not exhibit evidence of recombination, such events being potentially retrieved among pegivirus members as demonstrated for several HPgV isolates originating from China, Germany, or USA. 31,35,[44][45][46] We identified, however, a 36 nts/12aa deletion located on the NS4B coding region (N-terminal part) of the genotype 1 isolate characterized in this study.…”

“…[1][2][3] Recent taxonomic evolutions and proposals related to these single-stranded RNA viruses allow the current description of 11 species within the genus Pegivirus (Pegivirus A-K), the human and nonhuman primate pegivirus isolates being assigned to species Pegivirus C. 4 Despite a nonnegligible blood prevalence in healthy persons, that is 1% to 5% in developed countries and up to 20% in developing countries, and higher values in immunocompromised patients, both natural history and potential implication of pegiviruses in host's health are largely unknown despite their identification more than 20 years ago. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Of note, however, human immunodeficiency (HIV)-HPgV association studies were extensively explored, due to a possible beneficial effect in HIV infection motivating investigations about HIV-HPgV interactions at the molecular level. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Mechanisms of viral persistence and host-immune modulation remain also poorly characterized.…”

GB virus type C cross‐reactivity in clinical samples with a low hepatitis C virus antibody positive response

“…The work was supported by grant "Ricerca corrente" from Italian Ministry of Health. Cellular Immunology and Pharmacology Laboratory, National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" IRCCS, Rome; and 3 Regional Service for Surveillance and Control of Infectious Diseases (SERESMI), National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" IRCCS, Rome, Italy E-mail: argarbuglia@iol.it…”

“…Nevertheless, there are no data concerning cross-reactivity between anti-HCV screening assays and other RNA viruses in the same Flaviviridae family as HCV, such as GB virus type C (GBV-C). GBV-C is a pegyvirus that shares the same wide diffusion and the same route of transmission as HCV (3)(4)(5).…”