Comparative metavirome analysis in polytransfused patients

Due to the high transfusion volume, polytransfused patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia are constantly exposed to parenterally transmitted infections. Currently, we have little information about the virome of such patients and how the virological composition might be influenced by the hemotherapy procedures that these patients receive. The objective of this study was to compare the viral diversity between these two groups with respect to the viral abundance and how it might be affected by the specific conditions of these groups. We sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and compared the virome of 30 patients with beta-thalassemia major, 45 with SCD, and 16 blood donors from the Blood Center of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Predominantly, commensal viruses including Torque teno virus (TTV) genotypes and human pegiviris-1 (HPgV-1) were identified in each group. Strikingly, while HPgV-1 reads were dominant in the SCD group, thalassemic patients showed high TTV abundance, expressed both in viral reads and genotypes. We speculated that the commensal virome of polytransfused patients might be influenced by the transfusion frequency and disease characteristics and that commensal viruses might be used as important genetic biomarkers for these hematological disturbances. Nevertheless, more specific studies are necessary to confirm a relationship between blood virome and transfusion treatment.

由于输血负荷较高，镰状细胞病（sickle cell disease, SCD）和β地中海贫血的多次输血患者持续面临肠外传播感染的风险。目前，我们对这类患者的病毒组（virome）组成，以及其病毒组构成如何受患者所接受的血液治疗手段影响的相关信息仍十分有限。本研究旨在对比这两类患者群体的病毒多样性，分析病毒丰度差异，以及群体的特定特征对病毒丰度的影响。本研究通过下一代测序（next-generation sequencing, NGS）对30名重型β地中海贫血患者、45名镰状细胞病患者以及16名来自巴西里贝朗普雷图血液中心的献血者的病毒组进行测序并对比分析。各组均主要检出共生病毒，包括TT病毒（Torque teno virus, TTV）基因型和人类佩吉病毒1型（human pegivirus-1, HPgV-1）。值得注意的是，镰状细胞病组中人类佩吉病毒1型的测序读段占主导地位，而地中海贫血患者则表现出较高的TT病毒丰度，这一特征体现在病毒测序读段数量与基因型数量两方面。我们推测，多次输血患者的共生病毒组可能受输血频率与疾病特征的影响，且共生病毒可作为这类血液系统异常的重要遗传生物标志物。不过，仍需开展更多针对性研究，以确认血液病毒组与输血治疗之间的关联。