PERFIL DA EXCREÇÃO DOS HERPESVÍRUS EM SALIVA DE INDIVÍDUOS TRASNPLANTADOS RENAIS

INTRODUÇÃO: As infecções por vírus da família herpesviridae são preocupantes para o receptor do transplante renal. Alguns desses vírus têm sido detectados na saliva, porém não existe um padrão definido da excreção salivar dos mesmos, em diferentes hospedeiros. OBJETIVO: Traçar o perfil da excreção salivar dos herpesvírus humanos em pacientes transplantados renais. MÉTODO: Foi realizado um estudo observacional, transversal do tipo caso-controle. A amostra correspondeu a 50 indivíduos transplantados renais e 50 controles, não transplantados e imunocompetentes. Foi coletado 5 ml de lavado bucal onde foi pesquisada a presença dos 8 tipos de herpesvírus, por meio do PCR real-time multiplex. Os testes Exato de Fisher, Qui-quadrado de Pearson e t-student foram utilizados para análise estatística, com nível de significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: Os pacientes transplantados renais possuíam em média 49,42+12,94 anos de idade, 56% eram mulheres, com um tempo médio de transplante de 68,20+67,19 meses. Os vírus Epstein-barr (EBV) (p=0,024) e Herpes simples 1 (HSV-1) (p=0,025) foram os mais excretados pelos participantes transplantados quando comparados ao grupo controle. O sexo (p=1,00) e a idade (p=0,568) não influenciaram na excreção viral salivar. Pacientes que excretaram Varicella-Zoster apresentaram uma menor média do tempo transplante (63,62+66,13 meses), (p<0,001). CONCLUSÃO: Os transplantados renais excretam herpesvirus mais frequentemente que os controles, exceto o HHV6. Os vírus EBV e HSV-1 são mais excretados na saliva de pacientes transplantados renais

BK virus salivary shedding and viremia in renal transplant recipients

Objectives: This study aimed to verify the presence of polyomavirus BK (BKPyV) in the saliva of kidney transplant recipients and to correlate it with blood viremia. Material and Methods: We have conducted a crosssectional study with a sample involving 126 renal transplant recipients. 126 samples of saliva and 52 samples of blood were collected from these patients. Detection and quantification of BKPyV were performed using a real-time PCR. To compare the presence of BKPyV in blood and saliva, the binomial proportion test was used. To verify associations between salivary shedding BKPyV and post-transplant periods (in months), the Mann-Whitney test was used. Spearman’s correlation was used to correlate the viral load in the saliva with blood of kidney transplant recipients. Results: The mean age of the study group was 51.11±12.45 years old, and 69 participants (54.8%) were female, with a mean post-transplantation time of 4.80±6.04 months. BKPyV was quantified in several samples of saliva and blood, with medians of 1,108 cp/mL and 1,255 cp/mL, respectively. Only 16/52 (30.8%) participants presented BKPyV in blood, and 59/126 (46.8%) excreted the virus in saliva (p=0.004). BKPyV shedding was found in patients at a shorter post-transplantation period (3.86±5.25, p=0.100). A weak correlation was observed between viral quantification in saliva and blood (Spearman’s correlation coefficient=0.193). Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that, although saliva excretes more BKPyV than blood, there is no reliable correlation between salivary shedding and blood viremia, showing two independent compartments of viral replication

Intranasal Liposomal Formulation of Spike Protein Adjuvanted with CpG Protects and Boosts Heterologous Immunity of hACE2 Transgenic Mice to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Mucosal vaccination appears to be suitable to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we tested an intranasal mucosal vaccine candidate for COVID-19 that consisted of a cationic liposome containing a trimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and CpG-ODNs, a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, as an adjuvant. In vitro and in vivo experiments indicated the absence of toxicity following the intranasal administration of this vaccine formulation. First, we found that subcutaneous or intranasal vaccination protected hACE-2 transgenic mice from infection with the wild-type (Wuhan) SARS-CoV-2 strain, as shown by weight loss and mortality indicators. However, when compared with subcutaneous administration, the intranasal route was more effective in the pulmonary clearance of the virus and induced higher neutralizing antibodies and anti-S IgA titers. In addition, the intranasal vaccination afforded protection against gamma, delta, and omicron virus variants of concern. Furthermore, the intranasal vaccine formulation was superior to intramuscular vaccination with a recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (Oxford/AstraZeneca) in terms of virus lung clearance and production of neutralizing antibodies in serum and bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL). Finally, the intranasal liposomal formulation boosted heterologous immunity induced by previous intramuscular vaccination with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was more robust than homologous immunity