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Relationship of TT virus infection with prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and elevated alanine aminotransferase levels
Author(s) -
Watanabe Hisayoshi,
Shinzawa Haruhide,
Shao Li,
Saito Takafumi,
Takahashi Tsuneo
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199907)58:3<235::aid-jmv8>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - virology , genotype , virus , seroprevalence , viral disease , biology , hepatitis c virus , epidemiology , polymerase chain reaction , torque teno virus , population , prevalence , dna virus , immunology , medicine , serology , antibody , gene , genetics , genome , environmental health
A novel DNA virus, TT virus (TTV), was identified in a Japanese patient with posttransfusion hepatitis. The epidemiology and etiological role of this virus have not been elucidated. We investigated the epidemiology of TTV infection in hepatitis C virus (HCV) high endemic and low endemic areas, R town and M town, respectively. The seroprevalence, potential risk factors, and laboratory features of TTV in relation to those of HCV were analyzed. TTV DNA was detected using a seminested polymerase chain reaction and the TTV genotypes were determined by a direct sequencing method. TTV DNA was detected in 16.1% of the subjects in R town and 17.5% of those in M town. The TTV DNA positivity rates of the 2 areas did not differ significantly. A history of blood transfusion was not a specific risk factor for TTV infection. The mean serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level of the anti‐HCV‐positive subjects was significantly higher than that of the TTV DNA‐positive subjects, most of whom had normal ALT levels. The TTV genotype distributions of these 2 distinct areas differed. These results suggest that TTV infection is widespread with a geographical genotypic distribution independent of HCV infection and that the ALT abnormalities are not attributable to TTV but to HCV infection in the general population. J. Med. Virol. 58:235–238, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.