Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Respir Med. 2012 Dec;106(12):1690-4. doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2012.08.019. Epub 2012 Sep 16.
Antibodies against mimivirus, a recently discovered giant virus, have been found in patients presenting with pneumonia suggesting a potential role for this virus as a respiratory pathogen. Several bacterial and viral pathogens have been associated with the occurrence of acute exacerbations in COPD. However, a large part of these exacerbations have an unknown cause. In the present study we evaluated the presence of mimivirus in sputum samples of COPD patients.
From March 2009 until January 2010 all sputum samples collected during stable conditions and during exacerbations of COPD patients, referred for pulmonary rehabilitation, were included. All sputum samples were analysed by real-time PCR targeting mimivirus. Furthermore, serum samples were analysed for the presence of antibodies against mimivirus.
A total of 220 sputum samples from 109 patients were eligible for inclusion. None of the sputum samples showed the presence of mimivirus DNA. Antibodies against mimivirus were detected in 3 serum samples from 3 patients, of which one showed an increase in antibody-titre.
Although mimivirus was suggested as a potential respiratory pathogen, its presence could not be confirmed in the present study-population of patients with COPD.
针对最近发现的巨型病毒 mimivirus 的抗体已在患有肺炎的患者中被发现，这表明该病毒可能是一种呼吸道病原体。几种细菌和病毒病原体与 COPD 急性加重的发生有关。然而，这些加重的很大一部分原因不明。在本研究中，我们评估了 mimivirus 在 COPD 患者痰样本中的存在情况。
从 2009 年 3 月至 2010 年 1 月，所有在稳定期和 COPD 患者加重期收集的痰样本均被纳入研究，这些患者被转诊接受肺康复治疗。所有痰样本均通过实时 PCR 针对 mimivirus 进行分析。此外，还分析了血清样本中针对 mimivirus 的抗体存在情况。
共纳入 109 名患者的 220 份痰样本。没有一份痰样本显示存在 mimivirus DNA。从 3 名患者的 3 份血清样本中检测到针对 mimivirus 的抗体，其中 1 份患者的抗体滴度增加。
尽管 mimivirus 被认为是一种潜在的呼吸道病原体，但在本研究中 COPD 患者的研究人群中无法确认其存在。
