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Published on: September 22, 2023
Phylogenetic analysis of human coronavirus NL63 circulating in Italy
C Minosse1, M Selleri, M S Zaniratti
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases L. Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy.
Background:
Five known human coronaviruses infect the human respiratory tract: HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, SARS-CoV, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1.
Objectives:
To evaluate the prevalence of HCoV-NL63 in hospitalized adult patients and to perform molecular characterization of Italian strains.
Study Design:
HCoV-NL63 was sought by RT-PCR in 510 consecutive lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples, collected from 433 Central-Southern Italy patients over a 1-year period. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by partial sequencing of S and ORF1a. Additional S sequences from Northern Italy were included in the phylogenetic trees.
Results:
HCoV-NL63 was detected in 10 patients (2.0%) with symptomatic respiratory diseases, mainly during winter. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a certain degree of heterogeneity in Italian isolates. The ORF1a gene clustering in phylogenetic trees did not match with that of the S gene.
Conclusions:
As observed by others, HCoV-NL63 is often associated with another virus. Phylogenetic characterization of HCoV-NL63 circulating in Italy indicates that this virus circulates as a mixture of variant strains, as observed in other countries.
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