AUTHOR=Tian Xiangyong , Duan Wenjing , Zhang Xiulei , Wu Xiaoqiang , Zhang Chan , Wang Zhiwei , Cao Guanghui , Gu Yue , Shao Fengmin , Yan Tianzhong 

TITLE=Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals the Profile of Viral Infections in Kidney Transplant Recipients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.888064

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.888064

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>To study the clinical application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the detection of viral infections in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Using mNGS technology, 50 human fluid samples of KTRs were detected, including 20 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples, 21 urine samples and 9 blood samples. The detected nucleic acid sequences were compared and analyzed with the existing viral nucleic acid sequences in the database, and the virus infection spectrum of KTRs was drawn.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The viral nucleic acids of 15 types of viruses were detected in 96.00% (48/50) of the samples, of which 11 types of viruses were in BALF (95.00%, 19/20), and the dominant viruses were <italic>torque teno virus</italic> (TTV) (65.00%; 13/20), <italic>cytomegalovirus</italic> (CMV) (45.00%; 9/20) and <italic>human alphaherpesvirus 1</italic> (25.00%; 5/20). 12 viruses (95.24%, 20/21) were detected in the urine, and the dominant viruses were TTV (52.38%; 11/21), <italic>JC polyomavirus</italic> (52.38%; 11/21), <italic>BK polyomavirus</italic> (42.86%; 9/21), CMV (33.33%; 7/21) and <italic>human betaherpesvirus 6B</italic> (28.57%; 6/21). 7 viruses were detected in the blood (100.00%, 9/9), and the dominant virus was TTV (100.00%; 9/9). Four rare viruses were detected in BALF and urine, including <italic>WU polyomavirus, primate bocaparvovirus 1, simian virus 12</italic>, and <italic>volepox virus</italic>. Further analysis showed that TTV infection with high reads indicated a higher risk of acute rejection (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>mNGS detection reveals the rich virus spectrum of infected KTRs, and improves the detection rate of rare viruses. TTV may be a new biomarker for predicting rejection.</p></sec>