Detection of SENV Virus in Healthy, Hepatitis B- and Hepatitis C-Infected Individuals in Yazd Province, Iran

Molecular epidemiology of SEN virus among blood donors and renal dialysis patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The SEN virus (SEN-V) is a single-stranded circular, non-enveloped DNA virus that has been linked to blood transfusion and is thought to be a major cause of post-transfusion hepatitis. The two SENV types, SENV-H and SENV-D, are non-A to E hepatitis viruses  in those who are infected. The purpose of this study is to find out how common SENV and its variations are among renal dialysis patients and healthy blood donors.

METHODS

The study used a cross-sectional design, with 300 blood samples collected from KFMMC patients, 150 from healthy blood donors and 150 from renal dialysis patients, between January 2019 and January 2021. The samples were screened for the presence of SENV-D and SENV-H. using nested PCR.

RESULTS

Molecular analysis of the SEN virus revealed that 9.3% of the samples (14 out of 150) tested positive for SEN virus infection in renal dialysis patients. The data from healthy donors revealed that 10% of the samples tested positive for the SEN virus (15 out of 150).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of SEN-V in healthy blood donors and renal dialysis patients demonstrates the virus's blood-borne nature and emphasizes the dangers of blood-borne transmission.

SEN virus genotype H distribution in β-thalassemic patients and in healthy donors in Iraq: Molecular and physiological study

The SEN virus (SENV) has been linked to transfusion-associated non-A-E hepatitis; however, information regarding SENV infections in patients with thalassemia, particularly in those with hepatitis virus co-infections, remains limited. This study investigated the frequency of SENV (genotypes D and H) infections in Iraqi patients with thalassemic patients infected and not infected with hepatitis C virus. The study involved 150 β-thalassemia patients (75 with HCV infections and 75 without) and 75 healthy blood donors. Patient levels of vitamins C and E, liver function markers, and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were determined. Recovered viral nucleic acids were amplified using the conventional polymerase chain reaction (SENV DNA) or the real-time polymerase chain reaction (HCV RNA) techniques. Only 10% of healthy donors had evidence of SENV infection. Among patients with thalassemia, 80% and 77% of patients with and without concurrent HCV infections, respectively, had SENV infections. DNA sequencing analyses were performed on blood samples obtained from 29 patients. Patients with thalassemia, particularly those with SENV infections, had higher levels of several enzymatic liver function markers and total serum bilirubin (P < 0.05) than did healthy blood donors. Among the examined liver function markers, only gamma-glutamyl transferase demonstrated significantly higher levels in HCV-negative patients infected with SENV-H than in those infected with SENV-D (P = 0.01). There were significantly lower vitamin C, vitamin E, and glutathione peroxidase levels in patients than in healthy donors (P < 0.05), but only glutathione peroxidase levels were significantly lower in HCV-negative thalassemia patients infected with SENV than in those without SENV infections (P = 0.04). The SENV-H genotype sequences were similar to the global standard genes in GenBank. These results broaden our understanding the nature of the SENV-H genotype and the differential role of SENV-H infections, compared to SENV-D infections, in patients with thalassemia, in Iraq.

Molecular Epidemiology of Anellovirus Infection in Children's Urine: A Cross-sectional Study

Background

Anelloviridae is a viral family which is considered as a constant component of human virome. Given the ubiquitous nature of the virus infection and the long-standing relationship between the virus and the host, in the present study, we aimed at investigating the presence of Anelloviruses in the urine samples of children in a cross-sectional study.

Materials and Methods

The urine samples of 50 children who were referred to Hazrat Ali Asghar Children's Hospital, affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, were obtained. Three TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were carried out for Anellovirus detection. A phylogenetic tree was drawn for positive products after PCR amplification, purification, and nucleotide sequencing. SPSS, version 20, was used for statistical analyses.

Results

Children's mean age ± standard deviation was 4.30 ± 1.47 years and 56% (28/50) were female. Real-time PCR revealed that Anellovirus was positive in 12% (6/50). Furthermore, PCR-sequencing results showed that torque teno virus was detected in 83.3% (5/6) and SEN virus in 16.6% (1/6) of the Anellovirus positive samples. In addition, 86% (5/6) of the children with positive samples were female. No significant difference was detected between any of the demographic characteristics and Anellovirus positivity (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

According to our preliminary study, the presence of Anelloviruses in the urine samples of asymptomatic children in Iran is striking, although limited sample size and age range limitations might have affected the comprehensive results of our study.