Korean J Lab Med.  2003 Apr;23(2):113-118.

Prevalence of the TT virus viremia in Patients on Hemodialysis and General Populations

• Kim EH
• Cho HS
• Lee CH
• Kim KD

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The TT virus (TTV) is a recently discovered, single-stranded circular DNA virus in the serum of the patients with post-transfusion hepatitis and it is thought to be one of the causative agents of cryptogenic hepatitis. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence and clinical significance of TTV viremia in general populations and patients on hemodialysis. METHODS: Sera of 115 general populations and 69 patients on hemodialysis were examined for TTV viremia by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction using primers deduced from the N22 region. RESULTS: The TTV was detected in 26.1% (18 of 69) of the patients on hemodialysis and was not different from the 20.9% (24 of 115) prevalence in general populations. Two patients on hemodialysis that revealed biochemical evidence of acute hepatitis were the sole TTV infection without other hepatitis virus infection but the mean alanine aminotransferase level was not significantly different according to the TTV viremia. The TTV was persistently detected in the sera of eight of thirteen patients (61.5%) 12 month later without any evidence of hepatitis. CONCLUSIONS: TTV is widespread in general populations and shows similar prevalence in patients on hemodialysis. Viral persistence and nonparenteral transmission may be possible. The relationship between the TTV viremia and hepatitis was not proved.

Keyword

TTV; Post-transfusion hepatitis; Hemodialysis; Viral persistence

MeSH Terms

Alanine Transaminase
DNA, Circular
Hepatitis
Hepatitis Viruses
Humans
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Prevalence*
Renal Dialysis*
Torque teno virus*
Viremia*
Alanine Transaminase
DNA, Circular