UMR 1282 ISP Team Biologie des Infections à Polyomavirus, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tours, Tours, France.
Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Front Immunol. 2024 Jan 17;14:1293313. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1293313. eCollection 2023.
Human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) cause persistent/latent infections in a large fraction of the population. HPyV infections may cause severe diseases in immunocompromised patients. Malawi polyomavirus (MWPyV) is the 10th discovered human polyomavirus (HPyV 10). MWPyV was found in stool samples of healthy children. So far, the few investigations carried out on HPyV 10 did not find an association with human disease.
In this study, to verify the putative association between MWPyV and human diseases, MWPyV seroprevalence was investigated in patients affected by i) lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) and ii) immune system disorders, i.e., autoimmune diseases (ADs), and in iii) healthy subjects. An indirect ELISA, employing virus-like particles (VLPs) to detect serum IgG antibodies against MWPyV/HPyV 10, was carried out. The study also revealed the prevalence of another polyomavirus, Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV).
Sera from patients with distinct autoimmune diseases ( = 44; mean age 20 years) had a prevalence of MWPyV antibodies of 68%, while in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders ( = 15; mean age 14 years), subjected to bone marrow transplantation, the prevalence was 47%. In healthy subjects ( = 66; mean age 13 years), the prevalence of MWPyV antibodies was 67%. Our immunological investigation indicates that MWPyV/HPyV 10 seroconversion occurs early in life and MWPyV/HPyV 10 appears to be another polyomavirus ubiquitous in the human population. A significantly lower MWPyV antibody reactivity together with a lower immunological profile was detected in the sera of LPD patients compared with HS2 (* < 0.05) (Fisher's exact test). LPD and AD patients have a similar MCPyV seroprevalence compared with healthy subjects.
MWPyV seroprevalence indicates that this HPyV is not associated with lymphoproliferative and autoimmune diseases. However, the ability to produce high levels of antibodies against MWPyV appears to be impaired in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders. Immunological investigations indicate that MWPyV seroconversion occurs early in life. MCPyV appears to be a ubiquitous polyomavirus, like other HPyVs, in the human population.
人类多瘤病毒（HPyVs）在很大一部分人群中引起持续/潜伏感染。HPyV 感染可能导致免疫功能低下的患者发生严重疾病。马拉维多瘤病毒（MWPyV）是第 10 种发现的人类多瘤病毒（HPyV10）。MWPyV 存在于健康儿童的粪便样本中。迄今为止，对 HPyV10 进行的少数研究并未发现与人类疾病之间存在关联。
在本研究中，为了验证 MWPyV 与人类疾病之间的潜在关联，我们检测了患有以下疾病的患者的 MWPyV 血清阳性率：i）淋巴增生性疾病（LPDs）和 ii）免疫系统疾病，即自身免疫性疾病（ADs），以及 iii）健康受试者。采用间接 ELISA 法，使用病毒样颗粒（VLPs）检测针对 MWPyV/HPyV10 的血清 IgG 抗体。该研究还揭示了另一种多瘤病毒，即 Merkel 细胞多瘤病毒（MCPyV）的流行情况。
来自不同自身免疫性疾病患者的血清（=44；平均年龄 20 岁）中 MWPyV 抗体的阳性率为 68%，而接受骨髓移植的淋巴增生性疾病患者（=15；平均年龄 14 岁）中的阳性率为 47%。在健康受试者（=66；平均年龄 13 岁）中，MWPyV 抗体的阳性率为 67%。我们的免疫学研究表明，MWPyV/HPyV10 的血清转化发生在生命早期，MWPyV/HPyV10 似乎是另一种在人类中普遍存在的多瘤病毒。与 HS2 相比（*<0.05）（Fisher 确切检验），LPD 患者的血清中 MWPyV 抗体的反应性明显降低，且免疫特征也较低。与健康受试者相比，LPD 和 AD 患者的 MCPyV 血清阳性率相似。
MWPyV 的血清阳性率表明该 HPyV 与淋巴增生性和自身免疫性疾病无关。然而，产生针对 MWPyV 的高水平抗体的能力似乎在淋巴增生性疾病患者中受到损害。免疫学研究表明，MWPyV 的血清转化发生在生命早期。MCPyV 似乎与其他 HPyVs 一样，是人类中普遍存在的多瘤病毒。
