Cyclovirus Vietnam DNA in immunodeficient patients

Background: Cyclovirus Vietnam (CyCV-VN) is a CyCV detected in 2013 from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of patients with neurological disorders. Information on prevalence, pathogenesis and disease association of CyCV-VN is still very patchy. Objectives and study design: In this study, we have used a PCR assay targeting the Rep gene to investigate the prevalence of CyCV-VN infection in blood and CSF samples of 346 Italian subjects. Results: Overall, 7% of blood samples were positive for CyCV-VN while the virus was not detected in any of the CSF samples. The prevalence of CyCV-VN was relatively high in HIV positive patients (21%), modest in patients with HBV or HCV infection (6%), and low in transplant recipient patients (2%). Positive patients showed low levels of CyCV-VN viremia. The virus was not detected in serum samples from healthy individuals. Longitudinal analysis of serum samples obtained from selected patients showed a stable or transient presence of circulating CyCV-VN. Conclusions: The present study is the first to demonstrate CyCV-VN DNA circulation in Italy and to cast light on some biological aspects of this novel virus of men.