title: Prevalence of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus in Tehran: An Age-Specific Serological Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several new types of polyomavirus have been discovered in recent years mainly because of the recent state-of-the-art detection technologies. Among the polyomaviruses, Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has attracted the most attention because of its possible role in the etiology of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but lethal form of skin cancer.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine age-specific seroprevalence of MCPyV in Tehran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, we collected 440 serum samples from healthy individuals 2 to 78 years of age who visited the Pasteur Institute's clinic in Tehran, Iran, using a convenience sampling strategy. We developed a virus-like particle-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that uses VP1, the major capsid protein of MCPyV, to detect and quantitate serum antibodies to MCPyV. We compared the prevalence of MCPyV between males and females and across eight age groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 255 (57.9%) of the serum samples were MCPyV positive. The seroprevalence in children under 10 years of age was 25%. The seroprevalence increased to 56% over the next decade of life (10 - 19 years of age). The seroprevalence rate in males and females was 56.1% and 59.7% respectively, and a binary logistic regression showed no significant difference between males and females (P = 0.77). However, the prevalence of MCPyV increased with age (P = 0.012).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that human exposure to MCPyV occurs throughout life. The MCPyV antibody levels remained high among older adults in our population, consistent with reports from other populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Rouhollah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vahabpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Aghasadeghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehi-Vaziri
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Nasir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mohajel
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keyvani
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esghaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hamidreza
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Monavari
keywords: Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbet Assay; Merkel Cell Polyomavirus; Virus-Like Particle