Vahabpour Rouhollah, Aghasadeghi Mohammad Reza, Salehi-Vaziri Mostafa, Mohajel Nasir, Keyvani Hossein, Nasimi Maryam, Esghaei Maryam, Monavari Seyed Hamidreza
Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, IR Iran.
Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2016 Feb 14;18(5):e26097. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.26097. eCollection 2016 May.
Several new types of polyomavirus have been discovered in recent years mainly because of the recent state-of-the-art detection technologies. Among the polyomaviruses, Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has attracted the most attention because of its possible role in the etiology of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but lethal form of skin cancer.
This study aimed to determine age-specific seroprevalence of MCPyV in Tehran.
In this cross-sectional study, we collected 440 serum samples from healthy individuals 2 to 78 years of age who visited the Pasteur Institute's clinic in Tehran, Iran, using a convenience sampling strategy. We developed a virus-like particle-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that uses VP1, the major capsid protein of MCPyV, to detect and quantitate serum antibodies to MCPyV. We compared the prevalence of MCPyV between males and females and across eight age groups.
A total of 255 (57.9%) of the serum samples were MCPyV positive. The seroprevalence in children under 10 years of age was 25%. The seroprevalence increased to 56% over the next decade of life (10 - 19 years of age). The seroprevalence rate in males and females was 56.1% and 59.7% respectively, and a binary logistic regression showed no significant difference between males and females (P = 0.77). However, the prevalence of MCPyV increased with age (P = 0.012).
Our results suggest that human exposure to MCPyV occurs throughout life. The MCPyV antibody levels remained high among older adults in our population, consistent with reports from other populations.
近年来，主要由于最新的先进检测技术，发现了几种新型多瘤病毒。在多瘤病毒中，默克尔细胞多瘤病毒（MCPyV）因其可能在默克尔细胞癌（一种罕见但致命的皮肤癌）的病因中发挥作用而备受关注。
本研究旨在确定德黑兰MCPyV的年龄特异性血清阳性率。
在这项横断面研究中，我们采用便利抽样策略，从伊朗德黑兰巴斯德研究所诊所就诊的2至78岁健康个体中收集了440份血清样本。我们开发了一种基于病毒样颗粒的酶联免疫吸附测定法，该方法使用MCPyV的主要衣壳蛋白VP1来检测和定量血清中针对MCPyV的抗体。我们比较了男性和女性以及八个年龄组之间MCPyV的流行率。
共有255份（57.9%）血清样本MCPyV呈阳性。10岁以下儿童的血清阳性率为25%。在接下来的十年（10 - 19岁）中，血清阳性率升至56%。男性和女性的血清阳性率分别为56.1%和59.7%，二元逻辑回归显示男性和女性之间无显著差异（P = 0.77）。然而，MCPyV的流行率随年龄增长而增加（P = 0.012）。
我们的结果表明，人类一生中都会接触MCPyV。在我们的人群中，老年人的MCPyV抗体水平仍然很高，这与其他人群的报告一致。
