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Volume 15, Number 9—September 2009
Dispatch

Merkel Cell Polyomavirus DNA in Persons without Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Ulrike WielandComments to Author , Cornelia Mauch, Alexander Kreuter, Thomas Krieg, and Herbert Pfister
Author affiliations: Institute of Virology, Koeln, Germany (U. Wieland, H. Pfister); Department of Dermatology, Koeln (C. Mauch, T. Krieg); Department of Dermatology, Bochum, Germany (A. Kreuter)

Main Article

Table 2

MCPyV DNA and human papillomavirus DNA in samples of HIV-positive men without Merkel cell carcinoma*

Diagnosis No. samples No. (%) MCPyV-positive by nPCR No. (%) MCPyV-positive by sPCR No. (%) HPV-positive No. (%) HR-HPV–positive†
Normal‡ anogenital/oral swabs 49 18 (37) 7 (14) 32 (65) 31 (63)
CD4 <200/μL 18 6 (33) 3 (17) 13 (72) 13 (72)
CD4 >200/μL 31 12 (39) 4 (13) 19 (61) 18 (58)
Anal 20 6 (30) 3 (15) 20 (100) 20 (100)
Penile 6 3 (50) 3 (50) 4 (67) 3 (50)
Oral
 23
 9 (39)
 1 (4)
 8 (35)
 8 (35)
Benign papilloma/acanthoma 21 6 (29) 2 (10) 20 (95) 10 (48)
Anal 12 4 (33) 2 (17) 12 (100) 5 (42)
Penile 6 2 (33) 0 (0) 6 (100) 2 (33)
Oral
 3
 0 (0)
 0 (0)
 2 (67)
 3 (100)
Dysplasia/carcinoma in situ 43 12 (28) 1 (2) 41 (95) 38 (88)
Anal intraepithelial neoplasia 27 7 (26) 1 (4) 26 (96) 26 (96)
Penile intraepithelial neoplasia 14 4 (29) 0 (0) 13 (93) 12 (86)
Oral carcinoma in situ
 2
 1 (50)
 0 (0)
 2 (100)
 0 (0)
Anal cancer
 7
 1 (14)
 0 (0)
 7 (100)
 7 (100)
All anal, penile, or oral samples 120 37 (31) 10 (8) 100 (83) 86 (72)
CD4 <200/μL 45 13 (29) 5 (11) 38 (84) 36 (80)
CD4 >200/μL
 75
 24 (32)
 5 (7)
 62 (83)
 50 (67)
Plucked eyebrow hairs
 14
 7 (50)
 5 (36)
 14 (100)
 0 (0)
Cerebrospinal fluid 7 0 (0) 0 (0) ND ND

*MCPyV, Merkel cell polyomavirus; nPCR, nested PCR; sPCR, single-round PCR; HPV, human papillomavirus; HR, high-risk alpha-HPV. All samples were tested for beta-HPV. Eyebrow hairs were additionally tested for alpha-HPV, and all were positive. Alpha- and beta-HPV DNA were determined by PCRs as previously described (8).
†HR types comprise HPV16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 73, 82. For details of the patient-collective see (8).
‡Normal swabs were those negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy.

Main Article

References
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