title: BK virus DNA detection by real-time polymerase chain reaction in clinical specimens.
abstract: The BK polyomavirus (BKV) is widespread in the general population. In transplant recipients, the patients' weakened immune response may encourage reactivation of latent infection, leading to BKV-related diseases. Rapid and quantitative detection might help to delineate viral reactivation patterns and could thus play an important role in their clinical management. In our study we developed an "in-house" quantitative real-time PCR to detect BKV DNA. The effectiveness of this assay was evaluated by a retrospective analysis of 118 plasma specimens from 22 bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients and 107 samples from immunocompetent subjects. Eight (36.3%) of the 22 bone marrow transplant recipients tested positive for BKV. The viral load varied from specimen to specimen (10 to 10(5) copies/ml). BKV related disease like hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) was diagnosed in three patients. Specimens from the control group all tested negative. Our results showed the high sensitivity of the real-time PCR, allowing accurate and reproducible measuring of the viral load in order to identify patients at risk for BKV-related diseases. With due caution in interpreting threshold values, the real-time PCR could provide a rapid, sensitive and specific tool for detecting BKV and distinguishing latent and active infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: Rosalia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Graffeo
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siddu
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santangelo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciotti
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picardi
authors.forename: Cartesio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Favalli
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fadda
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cattani
mesh_terms: D001739:BK Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D003556:Cystitis / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D010949:Plasma / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral