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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Collection, Isolation, and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Human Endocervical Samples
Published on: July 6, 2014
Cervicovaginal shedding of TT virus in HIV-infected women
S Calcaterra1, M S Zaniratti, D Serraino
1National Institute for Infectious Diseases L. Spallanzani, Rome, Italy.
Objective:
TT virus (TTV) is frequently detected in the serum and in other body fluids of humans. Recently TTV-specific deoxyribonucleic acid has been detected in cervical specimens from apparently healthy women and in seminal fluid, suggesting that sexual transmission may be common.
Study Design/Methods:
TT virus-deoxyribonucleic acid prevalence was assessed in paired samples of blood and cervical smears from 110 human immunodeficiency virus-positive women. Detection and typing of human papillomavirus (HPV) present in cervical smears was also performed.
Results:
The prevalence of TTV-deoxyribonucleic acid in cervical smears was 16.4%, without significant difference (p = 0.81) between HPV-positive (18.6%) and -negative (14.9%) samples. The distribution of high/middle and low-risk HPV types was similar in TTV-positive and -negative samples. On the contrary, women with multiple HPV infections had a significantly higher TTV-deoxyribonucleic acid prevalence (60.0%) than HPV-negative women (p = 0.04).
Conclusions:
TT virus excretion in the female genital tract of human immunodeficiency virus-infected women is common, further supporting sexual transmission of this virus.
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