Torque Teno Midi Virus/Small Anellovirus in Sera of Healthy, HIV/HCV and HIV Infected Individuals in Lorestan Province, Iran

Abstract

Background:Torque Teno Midi Virus/Small Anellovirus (TTMDV/SAV) is a member of the Gammatorquevirus genus within the family Anelloviridae. It is detected in healthy, Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus and HIV infected individuals and also patients with acute respiratory disease in different countries, but its role in clinical diseases and its full geographical distribution is still unclear.Objectives:The current study aimed to detect the frequency of infection with TTMDV/SAV in the sera of healthy blood donors, hepatitis C infected and HIV positive individuals in Lorestan province, Iran; and also investigate the possible role of TTMDV/SAV virus in liver diseases.Materials and Methods:Fifty two, 36, 4, and 110 serum samples from HIV positive, patients with HIV/HCV and HIV/HCV/HBV co-infections, and healthy individuals were collected in Khorramabad city, respectively. Nested-polymerase chain reaction was performed using SMAs/SMAr primers to detect TTMDV/SAV DNA. Serum aminotransferases were measured.Results:In the HIV/HCV, HIV/HCV/HBV, HIV, and control cases, 29 (80.5%), 3 (75%), 43 (82.7%), and 16 (14.5%) were positive for DNA of TTMDV/SAV, respectively. In the HIV/HCV infected cases and HIV positive cases the level of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were not significantly different in TTMDV/SAV infected and non-infected individuals (P > 0.05).Conclusions:Although significant differences (P < 0.01) were observed in the frequency of TTMDV/SAV between healthy controls and each of the HIV positive and HIV/HCV co-infected individuals, no significant difference was observed between HIV positive and HIV/HCV co-infected cases, which may be due to HIV associated immunodeficiency. This is the first time that TTMDV/SAV is reported in HIV infected individuals worldwide. Interpretation of the high frequency of the virus (82.7%) in HIV cases needs more detailed studies.

Prevalence of anelloviruses (TTV, TTMDV, and TTMV) in healthy blood donors and in patients infected with HBV or HCV in Qatar

“…With regards to TTMDV, the viremia frequency of the virus in healthy individuals was 14.5% in Iran [19], 34.5% in Korea [27], 20% in France [27], and 8.6% in Italian blood donors [18]. Those findings are much lower than the 74.6% reported in the current study in Qatar.…”

“…Further, Garcia-Alvarez et al reported a very high incidence rate of TTV and TTMV in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, which is higher than the 83% infection rate in HCV patients in the current study [28]. Also, in another study in Iran, researchers reported a TTMDV incidence rate of 80.5% (29/36) and 75% (3/4) in HIV/HCV and HIV/HCV/HBV coinfected patients, respectively [19], which was lower than the 88.7 and 98.1% TTMDV infection rates obtained in HCV and HBV infected patients in the current study (Table 2). …”

“…TTMDV DNA was detected in plasma and saliva samples of French blood donors [17], in healthy and hepatitis C Italian serum samples [18], in healthy blood donors, hepatitis C patients and HIV patients in Iran [19], and in Korean chronic hepatitis patients and blood products [20]. TTMDV was also reported in Hungarian children with acute respiratory disease [21].…”

Antibodies to the Novel Human Pegivirus 2 Are Associated with Active and Resolved Infections

“…HPgV-1 RNA was detected in all groups tested (6.78%), whereas HPgV-2 RNA was restricted to the HCV-infected group (1.51%). Similarly, the presumably nonpathogenic and transfusion-transmitted anelloviruses have been detected in all of these groups, including healthy donors, and have distributions comparable to that of HPgV-1 ( 26 – 28 ). Thus, there is a notable dichotomy in which commensal viruses (anelloviruses and HPgV-1) are more prevalent across all populations, with HPgV-2 showing clear enrichment in populations coinfected with the pathogenic virus HCV.…”

Prevalence of human anelloviruses in Romanian healthy subjects and patients with common pathologies

“…Reports of TTMDV and TTMV prevalence are heterogeneous and data regarding prevalence in the blood of healthy individuals are scarce. For TTMDV, the prevalence ranges between 14.5% in Iran [ 3 ] and 75% in Japan [ 4 ], while the prevalence of TTMV varies between 29% in Korea [ 5 ] and 84.8% in Japan [ 4 ].…”