Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran; Shiraz Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Laboratory Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran.
Microb Pathog. 2019 Apr;129:187-194. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2019.02.015. Epub 2019 Feb 13.
Polyomavirus BK infection is a common complication and a major cause of morbidity after kidney transplantation. Surveillance of kidney transplant recipients was threatened by reactivation of polyomavirus BK infection can lead to polyomavirus BK-associated nephropathy (PVN). Antiviral immunoregulatory markers like Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) might also affect the polyomavirus BK pathogenesis for its role in antiviral host defense, graft rejection, and regulative of the adaptive immune responses. After screening polyomavirus BK infection, using Real time PCR (Taq-Man), the possible association between polyomavirus BK infection with IFN-γ gene expression was assessed. The mRNA levels of IFN-γ was examined in (n = 23) polyomavirus BK infected and (n = 23) non-infected kidney transplant patients in comparison with healthy controls (n = 23), using an in-house Real time PCR (SYBR Green) assay. The correlation of IFN-γ expression with viral load as well as other variables was also performed. The mRNA expression level of IFN-γ was significantly higher in polyomavirus BK infected patients (fold = 58.47) compared with non-infected ones (fold = 4.62), and healthy controls (p = 0.002). IFN-γ expression was higher in patients with higher viral load (p = 0.001). IFN-γ expression was correlated with viral load (r = 0.7, p < 0.0001). Accordingly, polyomavirus BK infection can induce IFN-γ gene over expression in kidney transplant infected patients. The results emphasized on the determinative role of IFN-γ in the pathogenesis of activated polyomavirus BK infection and also its importance in managing the clinical complications after kidney transplantation due to virus reactivation, requiring further investigation.
BK 多瘤病毒感染是肾移植后常见的并发症和主要发病原因之一。对肾移植受者的监测受到 BK 多瘤病毒再激活的威胁，这可能导致 BK 多瘤病毒相关性肾病 (PVN)。抗病毒免疫调节标志物，如γ干扰素 (IFN-γ)，也可能影响 BK 多瘤病毒的发病机制，因为它在抗病毒宿主防御、移植物排斥和适应性免疫反应的调节中发挥作用。在筛查 BK 多瘤病毒感染后，使用实时聚合酶链反应 (Taq-Man) 评估 BK 多瘤病毒感染与 IFN-γ 基因表达之间的可能关联。使用内部实时聚合酶链反应 (SYBR Green) 检测 23 例 BK 多瘤病毒感染和 23 例非感染肾移植患者以及 23 例健康对照者的 IFN-γ mRNA 水平。还进行了 IFN-γ 表达与病毒载量及其他变量的相关性分析。与未感染的患者 (倍数=4.62) 和健康对照组 (倍数=4.62) 相比，BK 多瘤病毒感染患者的 IFN-γ 表达水平明显更高 (倍数=58.47) (p=0.002)。病毒载量较高的患者 IFN-γ 表达更高 (p=0.001)。IFN-γ 表达与病毒载量呈正相关 (r=0.7，p<0.0001)。因此，BK 多瘤病毒感染可诱导感染患者 IFN-γ 基因过度表达。结果强调了 IFN-γ 在激活的 BK 多瘤病毒感染发病机制中的决定性作用，以及在因病毒再激活导致肾移植后临床并发症管理中的重要性，需要进一步研究。
