torque teno midi virus/small anellovirus in sera of healthy, hiv/hcv and hiv infected individuals in lorestan province, iran

Background: torque teno midi virus/small anellovirus (ttmdv/sav) is a member of the gammatorquevirus genus within the family anelloviridae. it is detected in healthy, hepatitis b virus, hepatitis c virus and hiv infected individuals and also patients with acute respiratory disease in different countries, but its role in clinical diseases and its full geographical distribution is still unclear.objectives: the current study aimed to detect the frequency of infection with ttmdv/sav in the sera of healthy blood donors, hepatitis c infected and hiv positive individuals in lorestan province, iran; and also investigate the possible role of ttmdv/sav virus in liver diseases.materials and methods: fifty two, 36, 4, and 110 serum samples from hiv positive, patients with hiv/hcv and hiv/hcv/hbv co-infections, and healthy individuals were collected in khorramabad city, respectively. nested-polymerase chain reaction was performed using smas/smar primers to detect ttmdv/sav dna. serum aminotransferases were measured.results: in the hiv/hcv, hiv/hcv/hbv, hiv, and control cases, 29 (80.5%), 3 (75%), 43 (82.7%), and 16 (14.5%) were positive for dna of ttmdv/sav, respectively. in the hiv/hcv infected cases and hiv positive cases the level of alanine aminotransferase (alt) and aspartate aminotransferase (ast) were not significantly different in ttmdv/sav infected and non-infected individuals (p > 0.05).conclusions: although significant differences (p < 0.01) were observed in the frequency of ttmdv/sav between healthy controls and each of the hiv positive and hiv/hcv co-infected individuals, no significant difference was observed between hiv positive and hiv/hcv co-infected cases, which may be due to hiv associated immunodeficiency. this is the first time that ttmdv/sav is reported in hiv infected individuals worldwide. interpretation of the high frequency of the virus (82.7%) in hiv cases needs more detailed studies.