Recent studies have established that human urine has its own unique microbiome, but little is known about the virome. The human virome is the collection of all viruses that are found in and on us. Viruses have an important effect on human health, and studies have shown that viruses play a critical role in graft rejection after kidney transplant. In this study we investigated the urine virome in kidney transplant patients clinically diagnosed with (BKV+) and without (BKV-) BK polyomavirus infection using high throughput shotgun metagenome sequencing. The clinical status of BK infection was determined by serum PCR titer.

Our results demonstrate that the BKV was the most abundant virus in all BKV+ group, however, we detected additional viruses, such as JC, and TT virus. Our results demonstrate a complex urinary virome in kidney transplant patients with many viruses with multiple subtypes. Most patients diagnosed as BKV- also had detectable level of BK and JC polyomavirus. In some patients we detected multiple subtypes of BK virus, with an average of 3.4 subtypes per patient. Analysis of the BKV genome polymorphisms showed that some were located in the VP1, VP2 and Large T Antigen genes suggesting potential functional effects of the polymorphisms. The functions and pathogenicity of the various virus subtypes and polymorphisms that we identified in the transplant population merit further investigation relevant to graft survival and rejection in transplant patients.

CITATION INFORMATION: Ranjan R, Rani A, McGee H, Brennan D, Finn P, Perkins D. Urinary Virome in Human Kidney Transplants Reveals Multiple Virus Subtypes with Distinct Genome Polymorphisms. Am J Transplant. 2016;16 (suppl 3).

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