Deep sequencing applied to the analysis of viromes in patients with beta-thalassemia

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Ian Nunes Valença, Rafael dos Santos Bezerra, Kamila Chagas Peronni, Virginie Sauvage, Mathias Vandenbogaert, Valérie Caro, Wilson Araújo da Silva Junior, Dimas Tadeu Covas, Ana Cristina Silva-Pinto, Syria Laperche, Simone Kashima, Svetoslav Nanev Slavov
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2021
• Subjects: Metagenomics; Next-generation sequencing; Beta-thalassemia; Virome; Hemotherapy; Emerging viruses; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946202163040; https://doaj.org/article/38ee6c8853cf444c905f110055d3bb70

ABSTRACT To date, blood banks apply routine diagnosis to a specific spectrum of transfusion-transmitted viruses. Even though this measure is considered highly efficient to control their transmission, the threat imposed by emerging viruses is increasing globally, which can impact transfusion safety, especially in the light of the accelerated viral discovery by novel sequencing technologies. One of the most important groups of patients, who may indicate the presence of emerging viruses in the field of blood transfusion, is the group of individuals who receive multiple transfusions due to hereditary hemoglobinopathies. It is possible that they harbor unknown or unsuspected parenterally-transmitted viruses. In order to elucidate this, nucleic acids from 30 patients with beta-thalassemia were analyzed by Illumina next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Three major viral families: Anelloviridae, Flaviviridae and Hepadnaviridae were identified. Among them, anelloviruses were the most representative, being detected with high number of reads in all tested samples. Human Pegivirus 1 (HPgV-1, or GBV-C), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) were also identified. HBV and HCV detection was expected due to the high seroprevalence in patients with beta thalassemia. Our results do not confirm the presence of emerging or unsuspected viruses threatening the transfusion safety at present, but can be used to actively search for viruses that threaten blood transfusion safety. We believe that the application of viral metagenomics in multiple-transfused patients is highly useful to monitor possible viral transfusion threats and for the annotation of their virome composition.