Molecular Study of Torque Teno Virus in Patients with Acute Gastroenteritis

Background: Torque teno virus (TTV) is a single stranded non enveloped DNA virus. Various studies have found a high prevalence of TTV in different populations and in different human samples including blood and stool. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of TTV in adult patients with acute gastroenteritis in stool samples by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Methods: This study was a retrospective, cross-sectional study carried out on 100 preserved stool samples from adult patients with simple community acquired diarrhea without dehydration. Stool samples were subjected to antigen detection of rotavirus and norovirus by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Detection of TTV was performed by the use of semi- nested PCR. Results: The detected viruses were TTV by semi-nested PCR in 83% of the patients, followed by both norovirus and rotavirus in 20% of patients each. TTV was present without any other studied virus in 52% of the samples, the norovirus antigen was detected as a single virus in 2%, and rotavirus was detected as a single virus in 3%. No viruses were detected in 11% of the stool samples. Norovirus was associated with TTV in 17 isolates and as a sole virus in three samples (p = 0.5). Rotavirus was associated with TTV in 17 isolates and alone in three. Conclusions: The data of the present study show a high prevalence of TTV in stool samples from adults with acute gastroenteritis. The presence of rotavirus and norovirus was also a common finding in these patients. There were no detected effects on the clinical features of gastroenteritis associated with the presence of TTV in acute gastroenteritis. (Clin. Lab. 2021;67:2310-2315. DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2021.210139)

Automated summary

The study demonstrated a high prevalence of TTV in stool samples from adults with acute gastroenteritis, with TTV being detected in 83% of patients. Norovirus and rotavirus were also commonly found in these patients, with detection rates of 20% each. The presence of TTV did not have any detected effects on the clinical features of gastroenteritis in these patients.