Clinical significance of TT virus infection in patients with chronic liverdisease and volunteer blood donors in Egypt

Clinical significance of TT virus (TTV) infection was investigated in Egypt ian patients with chronic liver disease and volunteer blood donors by a cro ss sectional analysis. TTV DNA in serum was assessed by a semi-nested polym erase chain reaction. The prevalence of TTV DNA did not differ among patien ts with chronic hepatitis B (11/24, 46%), chronic hepatitis C (22/72, 31%), or schistosomal liver disease (14/39, 36%). No difference in prevalence wa s found between blood donors (32/109, 29%) and each of the patient groups. Clinical background including mean age, sex distribution, history of blood transfusion, and mean level of alanine aminotransferase did not differ betw een TTV DNA-positive and -negative individuals in any of the study groups. Ultrasonographic evidence of liver cirrhosis was similar between TTV-positi ve and -negative patients in each of the chronic liver disease groups. TTV infection was not associated with hepatitis B or C virus infection in blood donors. The only significant difference observed was the lower concentrati on of serum HCV RNA in TTV DNA positive compared with negative patients wit h chronic hepatitis C (3.0 +/- 1.4 vs. 4.0 +/- 0.9 log copies/ml, P < .001) . In conclusion, TTV infection was not associated with either past history of blood exposure or infection with bloodborne hepatitis viruses in Egypt. No clinical significance of TTV was found in the present study. However, a reciprocal interaction was suggested between TTV and HCV replication. J. Me d. Virol. 60:177-181 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.