Prevalência da infecção pelos Polyomavirus JC e BK em pacientes com Doença Renal Crônica e transplantados

Abstract

This study aimed to perform molecular studies of infection by Polyomavirus JC and BK among patients with chronic renal disease (CRD), kidney transplanted recipients and asymptomatic subjects. We tested a total of 295 urine samples. After DNA extraction from urine, samples were subjected to PCR to amplify a fragment of 173 bp of the antigen-T gene of the Polyomavirus followed by RFLP analysis using the restriction endonuclease BamHI. Infection by Polyomavirus was detected in 17.6% (52/295) of the subjects, being 3.9% (4/102) in the DRC, 30.5% (18/59) among renal transplanted recipients and 22.4% (30/134) among asymptomatic subjects. The prevalence of BKV infection was 88.9% (16/18) among renal transplant recipients and 10.0% (3/30) among asymptomatic, but it was not detected BKV infection among CRD. The prevalence of JCV infection was 3.9% (4/102) among chronic renal patients, 11.1% (2/16) among transplanted and 90.0% (27/30) in the asymptomatic individuals. The risk of BKV infection was 72 times higher in renal transplanted patients than in asymptomatic subjects. The low frequency of infection found among patients with chronic renal disease may be related to the fact that these patients have a high rate of urea excretion in the urine. Furthermore, the low urine volume and low presence of cells from urine may be two factors contributing to the absence of amplification and consequently associated with a low viral load. According to these results, it is suggested that the investigation of Polyomavirus infection should be performed routinely in patients before and after transplantation, as well as in organ donors, since the BKV infection has been associated with graft rejection in kidney transplant.