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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2001, p. 98-113, Vol. 14, No. 1
0893-8512/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CMR.14.1.98-113.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Properties, Biology, and Clinical Implications of TT Virus, a Recently Identified Widespread Infectious Agent of Humans

Mauro Bendinelli,* Mauro Pistello, Fabrizio Maggi, Claudia Fornai, Giulia Freer, and Maria Linda Vatteroni

Virology Section, Department of Biomedicine and Retrovirus Center, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

TT virus (TTV) was first described in 1997 by representational difference analysis of sera from non-A to non-G posttransfusion hepatitis patients and hence intensively investigated as a possible addition to the list of hepatitis-inducing viruses. The TTV genome is a covalently closed single-stranded DNA of approximately 3.8 kb with a number of characteristics typical of animal circoviruses, especially the chicken anemia virus. TTV is genetically highly heterogeneous, which has led investigators to group isolates into numerous genotypes and subtypes and has limited the sensitivity of many PCR assays used for virus detection. The most remarkable feature of TTV is the extraordinarily high prevalence of chronic viremia in apparently healthy people, up to nearly 100% in some countries. The original hypothesis that it might be an important cause of cryptogenic hepatitis has not been borne out, although the possibility that it may produce liver damage under specific circumstances has not been excluded. The virus has not yet been etiologically linked to any other human disease. Thus, TTV should be considered an orphan virus.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biomedicine, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno 37, I-56127 Pisa, Italy. Phone: 39 050 553562. Fax: 39 050 559455. E-mail: bendinelli{at}biomed.unipi.it.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2001, p. 98-113, Vol. 14, No. 1
0893-8512/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CMR.14.1.98-113.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.