Torque Teno Virus (TTV) is a human-infected virus that is present ubiquitously in nature. Globally, it infects up to 95% of the healthy individuals without any clinical manifestations. The widely used laboratory diagnosis of TTV infection is Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Nevertheless, several other methods have been developed. The rapid growth of TTV variants over time has posed a challenge in estimating the global TTV infection as none of the PCR protocol has the ability to detect the entire spectrum of TTV variants. Multiple TTV epidemiological studies have been conducted among Asian population, whereas other continents showed a limited number of studies. The horizontal and vertical transmission of TTV among humans population, as well as interspecies transmission are potentially related to the global widespread of TTV infection.
Torque teno virus (TTV) is one of the “orphan” virus that have been discovered almost two decades ago, with little information on the relationship of the infection to any diseases. It is one of the 45% of commensal virus which was found throughout the population and becoming one of the most extensively studied viruses on its prevalence among various level of health status. From healthy blood donors to patients who suffered severe illness, TTV infection level seems to be high and the findings has triggered an interest from the researcher. Even though the study on TTV prevalence is actively performed, the actual pathogenesis of TTV to any specific diseases is yet to be ascertained. Many suggestions on the possible association of TTV infection with severe diseases such as acute respiratory diseases, liver-related diseases and even cancer have been discussed. However, one type of diseases which might have an association with TTV is hepatitis. Albeit, it remains a theory as the actual pathogenicity of TTV is not fully understood.
Introduction: Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira bacteria. The clinical manifes-tations of leptospirosis include mild-fever to a severe or even fatal. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines pro-duced in response to the Leptospira infection by the host immune system were hypothesized as among the causes of severity in leptospirosis. Besides the classical presentation with the triad of febrile, jaundice, and renal failure, patients with leptospirosis also can pose with predominant sign and symptoms of pulmonary involvement. This study aimed to compare the levels of TNF-α, IL-1b, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-18, and IL-22 In the plasma of samples of leptospirosis patients with and without pneumonia. Methods: Circulating cytokine levels in plasma were measured in seventeen patients hospitalized and diagnosed with leptospirosis in Malaysia (January 2016 – December 2017) and nineteen healthy individuals as controls. Patients were categorized into leptospirosis without pneumonia (n=12) and with pneumonia (n=5). Cytokine was measured using SimplePlexTM assays (San Jose, CA, USA). Measurement was performed in triplicate and statistical analysis was conducted using Graphpad® Prism v6 (San Diego, CA, USA). Results: Elevation of plasma TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-22 levels were observed among leptospirosis patients with pneumonia compared to without, although no statistical differences were observed between these two groups. Conclusion: There are no significant differences observed between the levels of plasma TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-22 in patients with pneumonia compared to without.