Antibodies to merkel cell polyomavirus correlate to presence of viral DNA in the skin.

Summary, in English

To validate whether Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) serology correlates with MCV infection, we compared real-time polymerase chain reaction results for MCV DNA on fresh-frozen biopsy specimens from various skin lesions and healthy skin from 434 patients to MCV serology results using viruslike particles (VLPs) and MCV neutralization assays. Sixty-five percent of participants were MCV seropositive and 18% were MCV DNA positive. The presence of antibodies was correlated with the presence of virus DNA (odds ratio, 27.85 [95% confidence interval, 6.6-166.5]), with 97% of patients who tested positive for MCV DNA being MCV seropositive. VLP antibody levels correlated to neutralization titers (r = .72), and high antibody levels correlated to high MCV load (P < .01).

• Author: Helena Faust; Diana V Pastrana; Christopher B Buck; Joakim Dillner; Johanna Ekström
• Department/s: Clinical Microbiology, Malmö; BioCARE: Biomarkers in Cancer Medicine improving Health Care, Education and Innovation
• Publishing year: 2011
• Language: English
• Pages: 1096-1100
• Publication/Series: Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Volume: 203
• Issue: 8
• Full text: - 1 MB; Download statistics
• Links: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21450999?dopt=Abstract; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiq173
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Topic: Infectious Medicine
• Status: Published
• Research group: Clinical Microbiology, Malmö
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1537-6613