A MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY ON MOTHER-TO-CHILD TRANSMISSION OF TRANSFUSION TRANSMITTED VIRUS

Zhou XG1, Xiao X2, Zhu LH1, Xiong AH2, Chen X2, Xiao XM2, Zou BP3, Xu LM3, Mao XJ2.

1Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China

2The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

3Shenzhen Research Institute of Hepatology, Shenzhen, China  

 

Objective: To investigate transmitted virus (TTV) infectious rate in pregnant women and explore the route and transmission rate of mother-to-child transmission.

Methods: A nested polymerase chain reaction (n-PCR) technique was established to detect TTV DNA in 490 pair of maternal sera of pregnant women and umbilical blood of their infants in Guangzhou city. PCR products from the 8 women and their infants with TTV DNA positive were cloned and sequenced to confirm its specificity.

Results: TTV DNA was detected in 87 mothers and 12 their babies, respectively. TTV DNA positive rate in pregnant women was 17.8%and its mother-to-child transmission rate was 13.8%. The homology of Guangzhou isolate and Japanese TTV was 85.3%98.2% at both nucleotide and amino acid levels.

Conclusion: The results show that TTV infection is common in pregnant women population and TTV can be transmitted into their babies via placenta (vertical transmission). This Guangzhou TTV isolate and that reported by Japan all belong to a same genotype.

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