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TT virus infection during chronic hepatitis C
P Trimoulet1, V de Lédinghen, D Ekouevi
1Laboratoire de Virologie, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bordeaux, France.
Insights
The study found Torque teno virus (TTV) DNA in 8.1% of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. TTV presence did not significantly alter HCV replication or liver disease severity, questioning TTV's pathogenic role in chronic HCV.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- The pathogenic role of TT virus (TTV) in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains unclear.
- Investigating TTV co-infection in HCV patients is crucial for understanding disease progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of TTV DNA in patients with chronic HCV infection.
- To compare clinical, virological, and histological characteristics between TTV-DNA-positive and TTV-DNA-negative HCV patients.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 234 patients with chronic HCV infection.
- TTV DNA detection using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
- Statistical analysis including chi-squared, Fisher's exact, and Mann-Whitney tests.
Main Results:
- TTV DNA was detected in 8.1% of the chronic HCV patient cohort.
- No significant differences were observed in age, gender, HCV source, duration, liver function, histology, HCV-RNA load, or genotype between TTV-positive and TTV-negative groups.
- A non-significant trend suggested higher TTV prevalence in patients with unknown HCV infection causes.
Conclusions:
- TTV co-infection did not appear to influence HCV replication rates.
- The severity of liver lesions was similar in both TTV-positive and TTV-negative patients.
- The hepatic pathogenicity of TTV in the context of chronic hepatitis C is questionable.
Objective:
The pathogenic role of TT virus (TTV) is not well known, especially during chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We retrospectively investigated the presence of TTV DNA in the plasma of patients with chronic HCV infection and compared the characteristics of TTV-DNA-positive and -negative groups.
Methods:
Between November 1996 and November 1998, 234 patients were included. Inclusion criteria were persistently elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, anti-HCV and HCV-RNA positivity, and seronegativity for hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus markers. TTV DNA was amplified in nested polymerase chain reaction with TTV-specific primers, and products were analyzed by agarose-gel electrophoresis. Data were analyzed using the chi2, Fisher's exact test, or Mann-Whitney test, as appropriate.
Results:
TTV DNA was detected in 19 (8.1%; 95% confidence interval: 4.6-11.6%) patients. TTV-DNA-positive and TTV-DNA-negative patients did not differ statistically for age, gender ratio, source of HCV infection, HCV disease duration, biological parameters, histological grade, HCV-RNA load, or HCV genotype. Although nonsignificant (p = 0.21), there was a trend for a higher prevalence of TTV DNA in patients with an unknown cause of HCV infection (4/22, 18.2%) than in intravenous drug users (4/84; 4.8%), in those exposed to potential risk factors (4/49; 8.2%), or in those having received blood transfusion (7/79; 8.9%).
Conclusions:
Because the rates of HCV replication and the severity of liver lesions in TTV-DNA-negative and -positive patients were similar, the hepatic pathogenicity of TTV in chronic hepatitis C patients is questionable.