1 research outputs found
High Reactivation of BK Virus Variants in Asian Indians with Renal Disorders and During Pregnancy
There is resurgence of interest in the study of occurrence, genotype and pathogenic associations
of human Polyomavirus BK and JC in recent years. In the present study, we have ascertained the presence
of BK virus shed in the urine samples of pregnant women and immunocompromised patients, for the first
time in Asian Indian population, and have also characterised the prevalent genotypes of the non-coding
control regions (NCCRs) of these natural isolates. The results strongly suggest a very high incidence, as well
as degree, of BK virus reactivation in this population groups assayed. Approximately 65% of the patients
and pregnant women together, tested positive based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and
these results were further confirmed by Southern hybridisation and dot blot against BKV specific probes.
The NCCRs of the several Indian endemic strains were analysed by sequencing PCR products, amplified
directly from urine samples, with oligonucleotide primers designed from the constant region of T-Antigen
and VP2 coding sequences. The typical features of the NCCRs of these Indian strains appeared to be
comparable and related to the archetypal strain BKV (WW) with some alterations in few key positions.
Apart from these subtle alterations, neither any major DNA rearrangement within the NCCR region nor
any drastic modification marked BKV strains found in nephropathy and in the healthy subjects (pregnancy).
However, in some of the immunocompromised patients studied, the degree of reactivations re-
flected by viruria, appeared to be much higher compared to other reports