Human parvovirus B19 in patients with aplastic anemia.
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.
Mishra
Baijayantimala
B
Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, 160012 Chandigarh, India. bm_mishra@hotmail.com
Malhotra
Pankaj
P
Ratho
Radha Kanta
RK
Singh
Mini P
MP
Varma
Subhash
S
Varma
Neelam
N
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
D004279:DNA, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M