[Presence and replication of TTV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from hepatitis patients with TTV infection].
OBJECTIVE
To study the presence and replication of TTV DNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from hepatitis patients with TTV infection.


METHODS
Nested-PCR (nPCR) was performed for detecting the TTV DNA from the sera, PBMCs and feces of 16 patients with non-A to non-G hepatitis in Beijing Ditan Hospital from Oct. 1997 to Oct. 1998. PBMC DNAs were aslo digested by mung bean nuclease and amplified by nPCR to clasify if TTV DNA was still positive. nPCR products of the sera, PBMCs and feces of 5 hepatitis patients with non-A to non-G hepatitis were cloned and sequenced.


RESULTS
14 of the 16 samples of PBMC and 5 of the 16 samples of the feces were TTV DNA positive. Two of the 14 samples of the PBMC were still positive after the digestion and amplification of the single-stand DNA. Sequence analysis showed that there was more than 95% nucleotide homology among the sequenced 5 clones (from the sera, PBMC and feces of the 5 patients) and reported AB008394 (from Japan) and AF079173 (from China). Virus loading of patients whose feces were positive by nPCR was obviously more than the patients with negative TTV DNA.


CONCLUSIONS
TTV DNA can exist and replicate in the PBMC; the hepatocytes of patients with TTV infection are not the only place of TTV existence and replication.
He
Z
Z
Beijing Ditan Hospital, Beijing 100011, China.
Feng
H
H
Zhou
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D004261:DNA Replication; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication
D004279:DNA, Viral