JC/Bk Virus DNA detection, Plasma Test

K virus (BKV) is a polyomavirus with a circular DNA genome of approximately 5,300 bp. BKV causes ubiquitous infection in early childhood, with seroprevalence in adults ranging from 60 to 100% (31). primary infection, the virus remains latent in the urogenital tract (30). If identified at an early stage it presents the chance for intervention for reduction of the immunosuppression with chances to limit BKV replication and prevent BKVAN. A few other hypothesized risk factors for BKV and BKVN are male gender, older recipient age, rejection episodes, degree of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatching, prolonged cold ischemia, BK serostatus and ureteral stent placement however these have not be confirmed unanimously in all the research reports. After the BK reactivation the virus is first detected in the urine with viremia developing after several weeks.

This test is conducted to diagnose the presence of BK Virus DNA in patient's specimens. Detection of the virus in the specimens could be a symptom of an active infection, as PCR leads to the presence of the virus, and not the reaction of host to the virus. Polyomavirus BK DNA presence in urine or plasma is attached to increased chances of graft rejection in renal recipients. Quantitative testing could clarify change in risk over time. This is a quantitative molecular test, with a linear range of 500-500,000,000 copies/mL.

The use of intravenous immunoglobulins could be of utilized for the treatment of BK virus-associated nephropathy, especially in patients suffering from concomitant acute rejection, who are suffering from reducing immunosuppression is difficult, but this remains to be yet researched up on. This test has an excellent negative predictive value, but often lacks accuracy. The terminology of the presumptive BK virus that is associated to nephropathy is applied to an adjunct test and is also positive (e.g. a quantitative BK viral load measured in urine or plasma by PCR). The Plasma viral load appears to best correlate with an eventual diagnosis of BK virus-associated nephropathy.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction DNA primers and fluorogenic indicates at highly conserved sequences of the BKV and JCV genomes The analytical sensitivity will vary with the specimen type and organism. Similarly the analytical specificity and no cross-reactivity with 20 viral and nonviral pathogens Reportable range (Quantitative BKV): 500 to 39,000,000 copies/mL