Assessment of viral RNA in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using RNA-seq

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Erik K. Flemington¹  Michael J. Strong¹  Joao A. de Andrade²  Joseph A. Lasky³  Qinyan Yin³  Yan Zhuang³  Naftali Kaminski⁴ 

[1] Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine;Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University;Section of Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine;Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Yale University;

关键词: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis;    IPF;    RNA-seq;    Viruses;    EBV;    HCV;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12890-020-1114-1

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Numerous publications suggest an association between herpes virus infection and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). These reports have employed immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and/or PCR, which are susceptible to specificity artifacts. Methods We investigated the possible association between IPF and viral RNA expression using next-generation sequencing, which has the potential to provide a high degree of both sensitivity and specificity. We quantified viral RNA expression for 740 viruses in 28 IPF patient lung biopsy samples and 20 controls. Key RNA-seq results were confirmed using Real-time RT-PCR for select viruses (EBV, HCV, herpesvirus saimiri and HERV-K). Results We identified sporadic low-level evidence of viral infections in our lung tissue specimens, but did not find a statistical difference for expression of any virus, including EBV, herpesvirus saimiri and HERV-K, between IPF and control lungs. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first publication that employs RNA-seq to assess whether viral infections are linked to the pathogenesis of IPF. Our results do not address the role of viral infection in acute exacerbations of IPF, however, this analysis patently did not support an association between herpes virus detection and IPF.

【 授权许可】

Unknown