Detection of JC and BK polyomaviruses in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) by PCR.

BACKGROUND: Overall, 20-30% of all cancers are estimated to be linked to infectious agents. Polyomaviruses are oncogenic cause in rodent models, readily transform their cells, and cause chromosomal instability in animal and human cells in-vitro. Some reports have indicated the presence of JCPyV and BKPyV in some human tumors. The JCPyV and BKPyV genome encodes some transforming proteins such as LT-Ag. Thus, these viruses could cause or promote some neoplasia, such as lymphomas, pancreatic, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. Risk factors for developing CRC are associated with personal features or habits, such as age, lifestyle, and gut microbiota. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we examined the prevalence of JCPyV and BKPyV in the 23 fecal samples of CRC patients and 24 healthy samples (control group). Virus DNA was extracted by a Favorgen DNA extraction kit. The large T antigen of JCPyV and VP1 of BKPyV were investigated by optimized multiplex PCR. RESULTS: One of the samples was positive for the JCPyV (4.3%), while in the samples of healthy individuals, the JCPyV was negative. Also, positive results for BKPyV PCR were obtained for five cases (21.7%) in the samples of the CRC group and one case (4.1%) in healthy individuals. CONCLUSION: The result showed no direct correlation between tumorigenesis and polyomavirus infections in CRC development. However, the exact role of BKPyV and JCPyV is still controversial and needs further study with larger sample size.

Prevalence of herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 infections among suspected children of encephalitis in Kermanshah, Iran.

Background and Objectives: Various infectious and non-infectious factors can cause encephalitis in the central nervous system (CNS), the most important of which are viruses. Herpes viruses are one of the most important causes of encephalitis worldwide. PCR detected the virus on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample. The aim of this study was to set up an in-house PCR to identify herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and determine the prevalence of these viruses in suspected children of encephalitis. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 suspected children with encephalitis cases referred to Dr. Kermanshahi Children Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran, from April to March 2021. CSF samples were extracted using a viral extraction kit, and a PCR was performed. The level of glucose and total protein of the samples was measured. Results: The total prevalence of HSV was 16.25%. 17 samples were positive for HSV-1 (10.6%), and 9 samples for HSV-2 (5.6%). There was a significant correlation between glucose, total protein, and HSV PCR positive, but no significant correlation between age and HSV PCR positive results. Conclusion: Rapid diagnosis of a virus may reduce the hospitalization rate and the use of unnecessary therapies and crease mortality, morbidity, and disability in children. Results in this study show that the distribution of HSV types in children with encephalitis predominantly was type 1 compared with type 2.

Prevalence of Naturally Occurring Resistance Associated Substitutions in NS3/4AProtease Inhibitors in Iranian HCV/HIV Infected Patients.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) acts in the host as a complicated mixture of related variants with the potency to genetically escape host immune responses. Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) have been approved for HCV treatment with shorter duration, better cure rates and lower side effects. However, naturally occurring resistance associated substitutions (RASs) create some obstacles to this antiviral therapy success. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed at the determination of the naturally occurring NS3/4A RASs in HCV/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)infected patients. METHODS: A total of 120 DAA-naïve HCV-HIV co-infected patients were included. HCV NS3/4Agenome region was amplified with PCR and mutation analysis was performed by Sanger sequencing technique. The amino acid sequence diversity of the region was analyzed using geno2pheno HCV. RESULTS: Phylogenetic analysis showed that 73 cases were infected by 3a and 47 subjects by subtype1a. The overall RASs among studied subjects were observed in 6 (5%) individuals from 120 studied cases who were infected with HCV 1a. V36M/L, Q80L, S122G/L, R155T/G, A156S, D168Y/N and S174A/N/T mutations were detected in this study. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of RASs was totally low in this study, the presence of several cases of double and triple mutants among this population suggests prior evaluation of protease inhibitors related mutations before initiation of standard treatment and also an investigation on a large population could be of high value.