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Clinical Trial
. 2014 Oct;12(4):464-70.
doi: 10.2450/2013.0220-13. Epub 2014 Mar 19.

Antibodies reacting with Simian virus 40 mimotopes in serum samples from patients with thalassaemia major

Caterina Borgna-Pignatti  1 , Elisa Mazzoni  2 , Marcella Felletti  3 , Giuliana Turlà  1 , Cristina Malaventura  1 , Maria Domenica Cappellini  4 , Paolo Cianciulli  5 , Gian Luca Forni  6 , Alfredo Corallini  2 , Fernanda Martini  2 , Mauro Tognon  2
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Antibodies reacting with Simian virus 40 mimotopes in serum samples from patients with thalassaemia major

Caterina Borgna-Pignatti et al. Blood Transfus. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Simian virus 40 (SV40) is a small DNA tumour virus. Footprints of the virus have been detected in different humam lymphoproliferative disorders and in blood specimens of blood from healthy blood donors. This study was carried out to verify whether SV40 antibodies can be detected in serum samples from multiply transfused patients with thalassaemia major.

Materials and methods: An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed, using SV40 specific synthetic peptides mimicking the antigens of the viral capsid proteins 1-2-3, to test for the presence of antibodies to SV40 in serum samples taken from patients affected by transfusion-dependent thalassaemia major (n=190) and healthy blood donors (n=251).

Results: The prevalence of antibodies against SV40 was higher in patients than in controls (24% vs 17%). The prevalence increased and was significantly higher in the older age group of patients affected by thalassemia major than in controls (38% vs 20%, p<0.04).

Discussion: The higher prevalence of serum antibodies against simian virus 40 in older, multiply transfused patients with thalassamia major than in controls suggests that this virus, or a closely related yet unknown human polyomavirus, could have been transmitted in the past by transfusion with whole blood. At the same time, our data indicate no significant differences in prevalence of SV40 antibodies in patients and controls of younger age thus suggesting that current transfusion methods with leucodepletion and filtered red cells are safe.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of SV40-positive serum samples in patients with thalassaemia and in healthy blood donors. Statistical analysis was performed with the chi-square test. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the prevalence of SV40 between thalassaemia patients aged 41–50 years old and the cohort of healthy blood donors of the same age (p=0.04). No statistically significant differences in SV40 seroprevalence were found between the other cohorts of thalassaemic patients and their control groups of blood donors. Significance levels are indicated in the figure (*p<0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Serological profile of serum antibody reactivity to SV40 mimotopes VP B+C. Immunological data are from healthy blood donors and from patients affected by thalassaemia. Results are presented as values of OD readings at λ 405 nm, of serum samples diluted at 1:20, detected in indirect ELISA. In scatter dot plotting, each plot represents the dispersion of OD values to a mean level indicated by the line inside the scatter with standard error of the mean (SEM) for each group of subjects analysed.
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