Molecular detection and characterization of Merkle Cell Polyoma virus in Lymphomas among Sudanese patients

Abstract

Objectives: Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) is one of the most common malignancies in Sudan. Contemporaneous studies from several countries including the United States, Japan and Germany suggested a possible etiological link between Merkle cell polyoma virus (MCPyV) and these lymphomas; however, there are no previous studies that have been reported on this topic in Sudan. This study was applied to investigate the role of this virus in lymphoma patients in Sudan. Objective is to detect and characterize Merkle Cell Polyomavirus in lymphoma patients by using molecular techniques Method: Adult Sudanese patients (both females and males) diagnosed with lymphoma were included in this study. Blood samples were used for DNA extraction which was then subjected to Real-time PCR to detect MCPyV DNA. Samples, proved positive by Real-time PCR amplification, were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Results: MCPyV was detected in 16/225 from Sudanese (7.1%) of lymphoma patients of which five were Hodgkin and eleven were Non-Hodgkin. MCPyV sequences in Sudanese patients showed 100% similarity to each other and 100% identity with reference sequences from gene bank. Conclusion: This study is the first evidence that MCPyV exists in a subset of Sudanese lymphoma patients. MCPyV is unlikely to have direct contribution in the pathogenesis of lymphoma in the majority of Sudanese cases. MCPyV identified from the Sudanese lymphoma subjects may constitute an African lineage and its pathogenicity needs to be investigated in future studies. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2020; 10(1):47-52.