BK viremia and nephritis are increasing problems in renal transplant recipients. The exact cause of the increasing prevalence of this condition remains poorly understood. Increasing prevalence has been correlated with newer immunosuppressive agents and the decline in acute rejection rates in recent years. The clinical manifestation varies from the asymptomatic state of viremia and nephritis to ...

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...

Human JC and BK polyomaviruses (JCV/BKV) can establish a latent infection without any clinical symptoms in healthy individuals. In immunocompromised hosts infection or reactivation of JCV and BKV can cause lethal progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and hemorrhagic cystitis, respectively. Vaccination with JCV/BKV derived antigen epitope peptides or adoptive transfer of virus-specifi...

Gangliosides have been shown to be plasma membrane receptors for both murine polyomavirus and SV40, while JC virus uses serotonin receptors. In contrast, little is known of the membrane receptor and entry pathway for BK virus (BKV), which can cause severe disease in immunosuppressed bone marrow and renal transplant patients. Using sucrose flotation assays, we investigated BKV binding to and int...

The BK virus (BKV) produces a subclinical kidney infection in immunocompetent individuals. However, viremia may occur in kidney transplant patients with ongoing immunosuppression. BKV-associated nephropathy (BKVN) has no specific treatment and is a leading cause of organ transplant loss. In this study, we evaluated the predisposition and the clinical impact of BKV replication in kidney transpla...

Background: BK virus (BKV) opportunistic viral infection causes nephropathy and allograft loss in renal transplant recipients (RTRs).Aims: Investigating BKV seropositivity, viremia rate function were the primary goals of this study, addition to molecular study Iraqi strains (LT antigen gene).Settings Design: Case-control study.material methods: Serum plasma specimens collected from 106 RTR 100 ...

BACKGROUND The replication of BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV) is linked to polyomavirus-associated nephropathy, hemorrhagic cystitis, and multifocal leukoencephalopathy in immunodeficient patients, but the behavior of these viruses in immunocompetent individuals has hardly been characterized. METHODS We used EIA to study samples obtained from 400 healthy blood donors aged 20-59 years for BK...

The human polyomavirus BK (BKV) is associated with severe complications, such as ureteric stenosis and polyomavirus-associated nephropathy (PVAN), which often occur in kidney-transplant patients. However, it is unknown if BKV can replicate within bone marrow. The aim of this study was to search for BKV replication within the bone marrow of kidney-transplant patients presenting with a hematologi...

BK virus (BKV) is a common opportunistic pathogen in kidney transplant recipients and one of the most challenging causes allograft dysfunction loss. Although over-immunosuppression remains primary risk factor for BKV infection after transplantation, male gender, older recipient age, prior rejection episodes, degree human leukocyte antigen mismatching, prolonged cold ischemia time, serostatus ur...

BK virus (BKV) pneumonia is a rare entity especially seen in immunosuppressed patients, for which cidofovir the used treatment option. We describe case of young female patient who presented altered kidney function six months following transplantation focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and was found to have BKV nephritis. Her in-hospital stay complicated by requiring mechanical ventilation, addi...