title: Detection of TT virus in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.
abstract: The TT virus, a recently identified single-stranded DNA virus with unknown pathogenicity, has been shown to commonly infect humans. Viruses have been considered to contribute to disease pathogenesis in autoimmune disorders including idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We assessed the prevalence of TTV infection in IIM compared with that in patients with RA and healthy blood donors. Detection of TTV was conducted by nested PCR and real-time PCR in the sera of 94 patients with IIM, 95 RA patients. and 95 age- and sex-matched healthy blood donors. Identity of the PCR products was confirmed by sequencing. TTV DNA was detected in 61 of 94 (64.9%) patients with IIM, in 64 of 95 (67.4%) patients with RA, and in 62 of 95 (65.3%; P > 0.05) healthy individuals. Age, sex, activity, or duration of disease had no influence on TTV positivity in either group. However, patients with severe IIM (n = 36) had a significantly higher rate of TTV infection (31/36, 86.1%) than patients with mild disease (30/58, 51.7%, P < 0.05, chi(2) = 10.0). Disease was considered severe in IIM when immunosuppressive treatment was necessary because of continuous high activity and/or serious inner-organ involvement despite corticosteroid treatment. In conclusion, although we found the detection rate of TTV similar in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and rheumatoid arthritis and comparable to that in healthy controls, our data suggest that infection with TT virus may result in a more severe disease in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.
authors: National Institute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy, H-1023 Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Gergely
authors: Antal
authors: A
authors: Blazsek
authors: Katalin
authors: K
authors: Dankó
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Ponyi
authors: Gyula
authors: G
authors: Poór
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000821:virology; D001782:Blood Donors; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018173:Circoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009220:Myositis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D004279:DNA, Viral; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D003402:Creatine Kinase