The presence of Torque teno virus in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Torque Teno Virus (TTV) has been identified as transfusion-transmitted virus in humans, initially. Although TTV viremia is extremely common in the general population worldwide, there is no direct causal evidence linking TTV infection to specific clinical manifestations. Our hypothesis was that TTV might play a role in Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by inducing inflammatory mechanisms previously identified. The study was conducted on 57 COPD patients and 39 healthy control groups. COPD patient groups included: the patients (n:20) with exacerbation needed noninvasive ventilation, the patients (n:19) who received only medical treatment, and the invited patients (n:18) for outpatient control. Serum samples were collected from patients and voluntary blood donors. TTV DNA quantification was carried out with a real time PCR by the hybridization probe system and viral load was interpreted through the crossing point value. TTV DNA was detected in the majority of both patients and healthy control groups. The prevalence was 94.4% (17/18) in patients for outpatient control, 94.7% (18/19) in patients who received only medical treatment, 100% (20/20) in patients with exacerbation needed noninvasive ventilation and 84.6% (33/39) in healthy controls. This difference was not statistically significant. However, CP values was statistically different in all the patient groups from the control group. TTV DNA prevalence was higher in patients than healthy individuals. More interesting thing, viral load was highest in the patients with exacerbation needed noninvasive ventilation. As a result, TTV may be associated with COPD and the severity of it.