Abstract
Torque Teno Viruses (TTVs) are ubiquitous viruses which are highly prevalent in several mammalian species. Human TTV’s are epidemiologically associated with several human disease conditions such as respiratory illnesses, auto-immune disorders and hepatitis. Recently it was found that swine TTV’s (TTSuVs) can act as primary pathogens. The common occurrence of TTVs as environmental contaminants and the increasing interest in the use of swine organs for xenotransplantation lend importance to the question of whether TTV’s can cross-infect across species. In this study, we examined human and swine sera by swine or human TTV-specific PCRs, to determine whether swine TTVs (TTSuV) DNA can be detected in humans and vice versa. Surprisingly, both human and TTSuV DNA were present in a majority of the samples tested. Transfection of human PBMC’s with TTSuV1 genomic DNA resulted in productive viral infection which was sustained for the three serial passages tested. Lymphoproliferative responses in infected human PBMCs were diminished when compared to the controls. Furthermore, mild to moderate antibody responses against the TTSuV1 ORF2 protein was detected in 16 of the 40 human sera by ELISA. Therefore, these study findings provide initial and fundamental evidence for possible cross-species transmission of TTVs.
Highlights
Torque teno viruses are small DNA viruses which were discovered as a possible cause of post-transfusion hepatitis in humans[1]
To determine whether TTSuV DNA can be detected in human sera and vice versa, we examined a total of 60 sera samples
The pan huTTV29 and pan TTSuV real-time PCR assays used were highly sensitive, with a detection limit of 1.5 copies per reaction, which is comparable to other qPCRs for the detection of TTVs30
Summary
Torque teno viruses are small DNA viruses which were discovered as a possible cause of post-transfusion hepatitis in humans[1]. TTVs establish chronic infections without causing overt pathology. Their role as primary pathogens is a subject of scientific debate. Experimental infection of gnotobiotic pigs with swine Torque Teno virus 1 or 2 (TTSuV1 or 2) causes mild to moderate respiratory, hepatic and nephritic lesions, indicating that TTSuVs can act as a primary pathogens in swine. Widespread environmental contamination, based on the detection of human TTV (huTTV) DNA, is extremely common in water sources[16,17,18], sewage[19] and in air or on surfaces, especially in hospitals[20]. To frequently ingest TTSuVs in food and water Both pork products and human feces contain TTSuV DNA23,24. From a public health perspective, it is especially critical to determine whether TTSuVs can establish infections in humans
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