title: Prevalence and stability of human serum antibodies to simian virus 40 VP1 virus-like particles.
abstract: Possible human infection with simian virus 40 (SV40) has been of great concern ever since SV40 was discovered in polio vaccines. Human populations are SV40-seropositive, but because of serological cross-reactivity between SV40 and the human polyomaviruses BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV), it is debatable whether these antibodies are specific. An SV40-specific serological assay was established, based on purified virus-like particles (VLPs), where the SV40 VLPs were blocked with hyperimmune sera to BKV and JCV. Competition with SV40 hyperimmune sera was used as a confirmatory test. Among 288 Swedish children of between 1 and 13 years of age, 7.6 % had SV40-specific antibodies. SV40 seroprevalence reached a peak of 14 % at 7-9 years of age. Among 100 control patients with benign tumours, 9 % were SV40-seropositive. However, SV40 DNA was not detectable in corresponding buffy-coat samples. In serial samples taken up to 5 years apart from 141 Finnish women participating in the population-based serological screening for congenital infections, only two of 141 women were SV40-seropositive in both samples. Six women seroconverted and eight women had a loss of antibodies over time. None of the SV40-seropositive samples contained detectable SV40 DNA. In conclusion, there is a low prevalence of SV40-specific antibodies in the Nordic population. The SV40 antibodies appear to have a low stability over time and their origin is not clear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Malmö University Hospital, Entrance 78, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lundstig
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Malmö University Hospital, Entrance 78, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eliasson
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehtinen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, Graiciuno 8, LT-02241 Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Kestutis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasnauskas
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, National Public Health Institute, PO Box 310 (Aapistie 1), FIN-90101 Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koskela
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Malmö University Hospital, Entrance 78, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Joakim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dillner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013539:Simian virus 40 / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral