Up-regulation of the monocyte chemotactic protein-3 in sera from bone marrow transplanted children with torquetenovirus infection

TTV was detected in 81.4% of BMT patients with a viral load ranging from 105 to 109 copies/mL. All samples were HEV-RNA negative. A pattern of cytokines, IFN-γ, TNF-α, FGF-basic (p < 0.01) and MCP-3 (p < 0.001) was found significantly highly expressed in TTV-positive patients compared to TTV-negative and controls. Of note, MCP-3 chemokine showed the highest sera concentration independently of the amount of TTV load and the status of immune system deregulation (p < 0.001). In this pilot study for the first time, a positive association was found between TTV and increased level of MCP-3 suggesting a indirect role of TTV in liver injury.