BACKGROUND: A novel virus named TT virus (TTV) has been isolated recently from patients with posttransfusional hepatitis of unknown etiology. The prevalence of TTV in several groups at risk has been reported, however, there is no information about the prevalence of TTV in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) without blood transfusions or hemodialysis antecedents. OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence of TTV in serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of CAPD patients. DESIGN: TTV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction, using primers from the open reading frames (ORF) 1 and 2, in serum and PBMC from 22 CAPD patients who had not received blood transfusions or hemodialysis therapy prior to CAPD. As controls, sera from 20 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (10 with HBV and 10 with HCV) and 20 healthy donors were included in the study. RESULTS: TTV DNA was detected in the serum of 5 of 22 (22.7%) CAPD patients with both sets of primers. Four of the 5 (80%) patients with TTV DNA in their serum were TTV positive in their PBMC with primers from ORF1 and ORF2. Five of 20 (25%) patients with chronic viral hepatitis (2 patients with HBV and 3 with HCV) and 4 of 20 (20%) healthy donors were TTV DNA positive in serum. No relation was found between TTV infection and the underlying kidney disease, previous surgery, and abnormal alanine aminotransferase levels. CONCLUSION: We have found a relatively high prevalence of TTV that is similar to that found in healthy donors and in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

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