title: High prevalence of TT virus viremia in italian patients, regardless of age, clinical diagnosis, and previous interferon treatment.
abstract: The pathogenic potential of the newly discovered TT virus (TTV) is currently a matter of conjecture. Its presence was investigated in the serum of 660 patients, by polymerase chain reaction. TTV was detected in 50% of 221 patients with unselected pathologies, and no significant differences related to age, sex, or organ disease were noted. TTV was present at a significantly higher rate in hemophiliacs (73%) and at lower rates in patients with cirrhosis (30%) and rheumatoid arthritis (28%). Patients with other liver diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus, or psoriasis or receiving hemodialysis had rates of infection similar to those in unselected patients. TTV-positive patients treated with interferon-alpha for underlying type C hepatitis showed no appreciable changes of TTV viremia levels. Type 1b was by far the most frequent viral genotype (92%), followed by types 2c (5%) and 1a (3%).
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Università di Pisa, Via San Zeno 37, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fornai
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morrica
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casula
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vatteroni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciccorossi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riente
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pistello
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bendinelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015995:Prevalence; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014766:Viremia / Q000453:epidemiology*