Torque Teno Virus DNA Load in Blood as an Immune Status Biomarker in Adult Hematological Patients: The State of the Art and Future Prospects

Abstract

A solid body of scientific evidence supports the assumption that Torque teno virus (TTV) DNA load in the blood compartment may behave as a biomarker of immunosuppression in solid organ transplant recipients; in this clinical setting, high or increasing TTV DNA levels precede the occurrence of infectious complications, whereas the opposite anticipates the development of acute rejection. The potential clinical value of the TTV DNA load in blood to infer the risk of opportunistic viral infection or immune-related (i.e., graft vs. host disease) clinical events in the hematological patient, if any, remains to be determined. In fact, contradictory data have been published on this matter in the allo-SCT setting. Studies addressing this topic, which we review and discuss herein, are highly heterogeneous as regards design, patient characteristics, time points selected for TTV DNA load monitoring, and PCR assays used for TTV DNA quantification. Moreover, clinical outcomes are often poorly defined. Prospective, ideally multicenter, and sufficiently powered studies with well-defined clinical outcomes are warranted to elucidate whether TTV DNA load monitoring in blood may be of any clinical value in the management of hematological patients.

Keywords

• anelloviruses
• Torque teno virus (TTV)
• TTV DNA load in blood
• allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
• hematological patients
• opportunistic viral infection