Determination of Torque Teno Virus’ Intestinal Loads in Immunosuppressed Patients

Abstract

Torque Teno Virus (TTV, Anelloviridae family) is a ubiquitous virus that can be found in most of the human population without a clear link to pathogenesis. Due to its characteristics, it has been studied as a possible biomarker in immune monitoring and its correlation with other viruses’ viral loads. One of these viruses is the human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV, Orthoherpesviridae family). For these studies, qPCR in blood samples is the preferred method for detection and quantification of TTV. However, in cases where blood is a scarce resource (such as in pediatric patients), an alternative sample such as rectal swabs could be useful. In this project, the ability to detect TTV by qPCR in rectal swabs as well as its relationship with HCMV are studied in a cohort of 143 samples from different patients.