Phylogenetic analysis of human coronavirus NL63 circulating in Italy.
J Clin Virol 2008;
43:114-9. [PMID:
18602337 PMCID:
PMC7108392 DOI:
10.1016/j.jcv.2008.04.015]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2008] [Revised: 04/03/2008] [Accepted: 04/21/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Background
Five known human coronaviruses infect the human respiratory tract: HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, SARS-CoV, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1.
Objectives
To evaluate the prevalence of HCoV-NL63 in hospitalized adult patients and to perform molecular characterization of Italian strains.
Study Design
HCoV-NL63 was sought by RT-PCR in 510 consecutive lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples, collected from 433 Central-Southern Italy patients over a 1-year period. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by partial sequencing of S and ORF1a. Additional S sequences from Northern Italy were included in the phylogenetic trees.
Results
HCoV-NL63 was detected in 10 patients (2.0%) with symptomatic respiratory diseases, mainly during winter. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a certain degree of heterogeneity in Italian isolates. The ORF1a gene clustering in phylogenetic trees did not match with that of the S gene.
Conclusions
As observed by others, HCoV-NL63 is often associated with another virus. Phylogenetic characterization of HCoV-NL63 circulating in Italy indicates that this virus circulates as a mixture of variant strains, as observed in other countries.
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