title: TT virus infection in patients with hepatitis C: frequency, persistence, and sequence heterogeneity.
abstract: TT virus (TTV) was recently identified in the serum of a patient with hepatitis. The role of TTV in liver disease has not been established. Three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocols were used to detect TTV DNA in sera of persons infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and in blood donors. Sera from 11.5% of HCV-infected patients and 7.7% of blood donors were positive by protocols 1 or 2. In contrast, 48.7% and 57.7% of sera, respectively, were positive when tested by protocol 3. There was no difference in the severity of hepatitis in persons coinfected with TTV and HCV when compared with those infected with HCV alone, regardless of which TTV PCR protocol was used. TTV DNA persisted in serum samples taken up to 6 years apart in individual patients. Sequence analysis indicated that most viral sequences were distinct between patients, and there was evidence of genetic heterogeneity and viral evolution within individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom. will.irving@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berridge
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Grabowska
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jameson
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ryder
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Thomson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral