BKV - a Challenge for Post-Transplant Patients

BKV infection is widespread as early as infancy and early adolescence. The virus remains persistent at low levels in many tissues of the human body, in particular the urogenital tract. Reactivation and/or re-infection from donors in the post-transplant period may result in severe disease, including BKV-associated nephropathy and graft rejection. The aim of this study is to determine the percentage involvement of BKV in morbidity after kidney transplantation and after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Eighty-seven studies were performed in a total of 37 post-transplant patients (out of which 59.4% were women) with a mean age of 42.2 years (SD ± 10.6, range 26-70 years). Thirty-three patients after renal transplantation were screened for reactivation (89.2%, CI: 79.2% to 99.2%) in serum, and 4 patients (10.8%; CI: 0.8% to 20.8%) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in urine samples when clinical evidence of haematuria was present. We used quantitative BKV PCR test kit Anatolia Geneworks, Istanbul, Turkey. We obtained a positive result in 1 patient after renal transplantation (3.03%) and in 3 patients (75%) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation and haematuria. Our data indicate that BKV is involved in morbidity after transplantation. In order to determine the most appropriate PCR sample material (serum, plasma or urine), all three should be tested simultaneously.