2023-08-29 20:06:25
French scientists have discovered, for the first time, an unknown species of circovirus. Usually affecting animals, it has been detected in a human being. This discovery has made it possible to set up a new diagnostic test for patients with unexplained hepatitis.
Human Circovirus 1: Identification of the first circovirus in humans
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur, the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital AP-HP, Inserm at the Imagine Institute, Paris Cité University and the National Veterinary School of Alfort conducted a joint discovery. Indeed, they identified the first circovirus in humans, linked to hepatitis. This circovirus, temporarily baptized Human Circovirus 1 (HCirV-1), was the subject of a publication in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Usually, circoviruses are “very resistant small DNA viruses” affecting animals, as indicated the Pasteur Institute. However, here it was identified in a 61-year-old patient with hepatitis of unknown origin.
Marc Eloit, one of the authors of the study, head of the Discovery of pathogens laboratory at the Institut Pasteur and Professor of virology at the National Veterinary School of Alfort, explains regarding him: “The patient had chronic hepatitis unexplained, with few symptoms. She had received a double heart and lung transplant 17 years earlier, with very regular follow-up. We were able to access many samples over several years, which allowed us to identify this new virus, which was unexpected to say the least”.
To allow this identification, the researchers carried out analyzes by sequencing of the patient’s samples. To do this, they used state-of-the-art sequencing technologies and computer algorithms.
A new diagnostic tool for hepatitis of unknown origin
After the identification of this circovirus in the patient, an antiviral treatment might be administered to her. The level of liver enzymes thus returning to normal. This discovery is now considered a real breakthrough for patients with unexplained hepatitis.
Indeed, it has enabled the creation of a new PCR test ensuring a better diagnosis of this type of hepatitis. This is what Anne Jamet, from the clinical microbiology department of the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital AP-HP, affiliated with theInserm, and author of the study. She points out: “The identification of this new pathogenic virus for humans and the development of a test that can be performed by any hospital laboratory provides a new tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients suffering from hepatitis”.
This finding also confirms the importance of sequencing analyses. They make it possible, as Marc Eloit reports, to discover “new or unexpected pathogens”. He goes on to point out: “It is also essential to have the capacity to identify a new pathogen when an infection is unexplained and to develop a diagnostic test, because potentially any new case of infection by an emerging pathogen in man can witness the beginning of an epidemic”.
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