Prevalence of TT virus (TTV) infection in patients with liver diseases in Korea / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: TT virus (TTV), an unenveloped single-stranded DNA virus, has been reported in patients with non A-G posttransfusion hepatitis in Japan. Since it has been distributed globally afterward, it was suggested to be a possible causative agent in a proportion of cases with cryptogenic acute and chronic hepatitis. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and clinical significance of TTV infection in Korean patients with acute and chronic liver diseases. METHODS: TTV DNA was determined by polymerase chain reaction with semi-nested primers in sera of 94 patients with liver diseases 38 with non-ABC liver diseases, 33 with HBV infection and 23 with HCV infection. RESULTS: TTV DNA was detected in 7.9% of non-ABC group, 6.1% of HBV group and 13.0% of HCV group. The positive rates of TTV DNA among three groups were not different statistically. The prevalences of TTV in acute and chronic liver disease were not different. For our study, six out of eight patients with positive TTV DNA had a past history of transfusion. CONCLUSION: Although TTV infection exists in Korea, it seems unlikely that the virus is responsible for liver diseases of unknown etiology.