title: Human parvovirus B19 in patients with aplastic anemia.
abstract: Aplastic anemia is characterized by pancytopenia with hypoplastic bone marrow. Various factors including viral infections have been implicated as the precipitating factors. Human parvovirus B19 has been associated with red-cell aplasia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia. The present study was carried out to determine the role of parvovirus B19 in aplastic anemia patients. Twenty-seven aplastic anemia patients and 20 healthy controls were tested for the presence of parvovirus B19 infection by detecting parvovirus B19-specific IgM by ELISA and viral DNA by PCR. Parvovirus B19 IgM and viral DNA were detected in significantly higher numbers of patients in comparison to the controls (40.7% vs. 5%, P < 0.01; 37% vs. 0%, P < 0.001, respectively). The presence of parvovirus DNA in aplastic anemia patients indicates active or recent infection. However, more studies are needed to explore the mechanism of bone-marrow aplasia due to human parvovirus B19 infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, 160012 Chandigarh, India. bm_mishra@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Baijayantimala
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Radha Kanta
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Ratho
authors.forename: Mini P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Subhash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Varma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000821:virology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M