Solid-phase immunoglobulin M (IgM) antigen capture enzyme immunoassay (AgCEIA) and antibody capture enzyme immunoassay (AbCEIA) were developed for the diagnosis of BK virus (BKV) infections. Of 37 serum samples from renal allograft recipients, 15 were positive for BKV IgM antibody by either AgCEIA, AbCEIA, or antigen capture radioimmunoassay. False-positive IgM results were observed in the AgCE...

More than 70% of the general population worldwide has serological evidence of exposure to Polyomavirus hominis type 1, better known as BK virus (BKV). BKV infection typically occurs during childhood, without specific symptoms, followed by a state of nonreplicative infection in various tissues, with the urogenital tract as the principal site. Asymptomatic reactivation and low-level replication w...

Hammer and colleagues report on BKV-specific T-cell responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 15 viremic kidney transplant recipients (1). After stimulation with overlapping peptides spanning the viral capsid protein VP1, interferon-c (IFNc )-producing CD4+ T cells were observed in 7 patients (47%), including 2 patients (13%) with a CD8+ T-cell response. All patients with a dete...

Comparison of two closely related primate papovaviruses, simian virus 40 (SV40) and human BK virus (BKV), reveals that the only region of extensive divergence, the tandem sequences adjacent to the origins of DNA replication, is responsible in SV40 for enhancing early gene expression. This study demonstrates a similar enhancer function for the analogous repeated region in BKV. The dissimilarity ...

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for many end-stage renal diseases that would otherwise require dialysis and renal replacement therapy.1 One of the main threats for graft survival is infection caused by the polyomavirus BK (BKV). The prevalence of clinically significant BKV reactivation after kidney transplantation varies, depending on the study, from 1 to 10% and the incidence...

Nephropathy from BK virus (BKV) infection is an evolving challenge in kidney transplant recipients. It is the consequence of modern potent immunosuppression aimed at reducing acute rejection and improving allograft survival. Untreated BKV infections lead to kidney allograft dysfunction or loss. Decreased immunosuppression is the principle treatment but predisposes to acute and chronic rejection...

OBJECTIVE To report data on the evaluation of the efficacy of urine cytology in detecting BK virus (BKV). MATERIAL AND METHODS Papanicolaou-stained cytospin preparations of randomly collected urine samples from 8 renal transplant (RTR) patients (5 males, 3 females, age: 23-63 years) who previously tested positive for BKV by PCR in urine or blood or both were studied. Urine sediment from 3 of ...

Malignant undifferentiated sarcomas were induced in 11 of 15 (73.3%) newborn Syrian hamsters by s.c. inoculation of a recombinant DNA (pBK/c-rasA) containing BK virus (BKV) early region gene and the activated human c-Harvey-ras(c-Ha-ras) oncogene derived from T24 bladder carcinoma. The two genes inoculated independently as well as a recombinant DNA of BKV early region gene and normal human c-Ha...

BACKGROUND BK virus (BKV) is ubiquitous in human beings. Virus reactivation may occur in immunocompromised settings. The aim of this study was to compare BKV excretion in acquired immunocompromised children (kidney transplant recipients and steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome) with normal population. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and thirty one participants less than 20 years were recrui...

Immunosuppression is required for BK viremia and polyomavirus BK-associated nephropathy (PVAN) in kidney transplants (KTs), but the role of viral determinants is unclear. We examined BKV noncoding control regions (NCCR), which coordinate viral gene expression and replication. In 286 day-matched plasma and urine samples from 129 KT patients with BKV viremia, including 70 with PVAN, the majority ...