Prevalence of Human Polyomaviruses KIPyV and MCPyV in Respiratory Tract Specimens from Bulgarian Patients

The role of KI polyomavirus (KIPyV) and Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) as human pathogens is not completely understood. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of these polyomaviruses in patients with respiratory diseases (acute and chronic, including lung cancer). 221 nasopharyngeal swabs and lung biopsy specimens were studied for the presence of KIPyV and MCPyV by nested PCR. KIPyV and MCPyV were detected in nasopharyngeal specimens at similar rates, 10.3% and 8.2%, respectively. We found 2.8% KIPyV positivity rate among patients with non-cancer chronic lung diseases. All specimens from lung cancer cases were negative for KIPyV and MCPyV. The results suggested that there may be a relationship between these polyomaviruses and acute respiratory diseases, but no evidence was found for their involvement in lung cancerogenesis.