Clinical significance of quantitative and qualitative detection of BK and JC virus in blood and urine of renal transplantation recipients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate value of quantitative and qualitative detection of BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV) in timely diagnosing polyomavirus-associated nephropathy (PVAN) occurring inrenal transplantation recipients. METHODS: We collected 306 cases of urine specimen and 310 cases of blood specimen from 306 patients who underwent renal transplant. Levels of BKV and JCV in blood and urine were detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Detection rate of BKV DNA was 33.3% (102/306) in urine and 34.8% (108/310); while that of JCV DNA was 30.7% (94/306) and 33.5% (104/310) respectively. The lowest detectable limit of BCK and JCV detection for patients who underwent renal transplant was 2×10(3) copies/ml, suggesting high specificity and sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Real-time quantitative PCR is able to monitor BCV and JCV in renal transplant recipients in a convenient and rapid way, thus it is beneficial for early discovery, diagnosis and treatment of PVAN.