title: Enteroviral infection in Greek AIDS patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prolonged intestinal replication of polioviruses has not previously been studied in Greek AIDS patients. The objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of enteroviral infections in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen stool samples were investigated from 19 different patients. Collection took place at the Hellenic Red Cross Hospital, Athens, Greece, between August and October 2002. Samples were processed as follows: virus isolation was attempted by cell culture using three different cell lines (human epidermoid carcinoma [Hep]-2, rabdomyosarcoma [RD], and mouse cells genetically modified in order to express the polio virus receptor in their cell surface [L20(B)]). An enterovirus-specific reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was then applied. Finally, seroneutralization tests were performed on 11 blood samples taken from a number of the patients who had supplied stool samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Samples were negative for enterovirus detection of any serotype on all cell lines. No cytopathic effect was observed. Enterovirus-specific RT-PCR assays were also negative for the detection of enteroviral RNA. Seroneutralization revealed relatively high antibody titers against poliovirus 1 and 2 in three of the eleven blood samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greek AIDS patients are not vulnerable to enteroviral infections and do not constitute a potential reservoir of poliovirus-prolonged excretion in Greece.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papaventsis
authors.forename: Panayotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Markoulatos
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mangafas
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazanas
authors.forename: Stamatina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levidiotou-Stefanou
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004769:Enterovirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification