title: Molecular epidemiology of JCV genotypes in patients and healthy subjects from Northern Italy.
abstract: Very little is known about JCV infection and genotype distribution with respect to the different demographic and clinical characteristics of the Italian population. A cross-sectional study was carried out on the prevalence of JCV genotypes in 323 Caucasian subjects (mean age: 37.5 years, range: 2-70 years). Urine samples from 200 immunocompromised patients, including patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), colon cancer, inflammatory diseases and Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), and 123 immunocompetent individuals were tested by quantitative real time PCR. Sequencing of the JCV viral protein 1 (VP1) and transcriptional control region (TCR) was performed. In this series, the overall prevalence of JCV excretion was 32.8% without significant differences between males and females. JCV was detected in 39.5% of patients and in 22% of healthy individuals (P = 0.004). The most prevalent JCV genotype excreted was genotype 1 (69.8%), followed by genotype 2 (22.6%) and genotype 4 (7.5%). Distribution of genotypes between patients and healthy subjects showed a statistically significant difference for the type 1 compared to the other variants (P < 0.01). Of note, JCV genotype 2 was found to be associated to young patients (P = 0.0001) and to patients treated with immunomodulator drugs (P = 0.0001), but not to PML subjects. The non-pathogenic archetype IIS (singular, insert) form was present in all JCV strains detected. This result allows to hypothesize a possible JCV genotype selection in response to pressure by immunomodulatory drugs.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Nunzia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zanotta
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delbue
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pelos
authors.forename: Pierlanfranco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Agaro
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Monasta
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.forename: Manola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007577:JC Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D014556:Urine / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: JCV; immunocompromised and healthy subjects; subtypes