Abstract
Most transplant centers screen kidney transplant recipients for BK virus (BKV) infection using molecular techniques for the virus load determination. However, there is no consensus about the pre-analytical methods involved in the viral detection. In this study BK viral load was compared by the means of two urine treatment protocols (pelleted vs. whole urine) and two commercial DNA extraction kits for a quantitative PCR (qPCR) experiment. Ten patients who presented decoy cells in their urine sediment were selected for the study. Viral load was considerable higher (>1.5log) for pelleted urine, in comparison to whole urine but no significant difference was observed between the extraction kits. PCR inhibition did not occur by using pelleted urine. In order to increase test sensitivity to detect BK viruria, pelleted urine should be the preferred urine compartment for qPCR experiments.
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