Transmission routes and clinical manifestations of TT virus infection during childhood

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The transmission route of TT virus and the pathological role of this virus infection in liver disease in children were investigated.1) Using Takahashi and Okamoto primer sets, The prevalence of TTV in pregnant women without a history of blood transfusion was studied and the detection rates were 61.3% and 12.9%, respectively.2) The detection rates of TTV in cord blood, as well as in the saliva and breast mild of mothers were studied. No TTV was detected in the cord blood by the Okamoto primer set but TTV was detected in 11.8% by the Takahashi primer set. Using the Okamoto primer set TTV was not detected in breast milk, but was detected in saliva. However, using the Takahashi primer set, TTV was detected in both specimens.3) When 271-bp TTV DNA fragments were sequenced, the degree of homology between sibling in family 1 and 2 was 99.5% and 92.3%, respectively. The degree of homology between child-mother pairs of family 1 and 2 was 99.5-100% and 62.6-63.9%, respectively. The former case suggested the presence of vertical transmission of TT virus.4) Using Okamoto and Takahashi primer sets, the prevalence were 31.6% and 78.9%, respectively, for children with a history of blood transfusion and 6.7% and 60%, respectively, for children without a history of blood transfusion. The prevalence were 0% and 50%, respectively, in hepatitis B patients, 21.4% and 71.4%, respectively, for hepatitis C patients, and 20% and 57.8%, respectively, for non-A to C hepatitis patients, respectively.5) Assessment of genotype in the non-A to C hepatic dysfunction group revealed a higher prevalence of genotype 1 than that of the control group. This suggested that genotype 1 TTV strain was associated with the development of hepatic dysfunction of unknown etiology I Japanese children.