A systematic review. Current understanding of the infection caused by Betapolyomavirus hominis

Abstract

Reactivation of Betapolyomavirus hominis (BKPyV) in kidney and hematopoietic stem cell recipients can lead to serious complications such as BKPyV-associated nephropathy followed by transplant rejection and BKPyV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis. Early diagnosis of the disease is hampering by the possible combination of infection of BKPyV with other post-transplant pathologies and the absence of specific symptoms. Replication of BKPyV is currently the only reliable prognostic sign of the development of long-term consequences, so patient management is basseting on monitoring the concentration of viral DNA. However, consistency between the results of determining the viral load and the development of post-transplant complications associated with BKPyV reactivation cannot be achieving without effective means of standardizing laboratory testing. This review covers the current understanding of the epidemiology; pathogenesis and the clinical features of the disease associated with BKPyV, and also considers in detail the current methods of laboratory diagnosis infection of BKPyV.