Relation of Immunosuppressive Drugs with BK Virus Infection in Renal Allograft Recipient Cases

Background: Human polyoma viruses are the members of the papova virus family. The most known species of this kind are BK-virus (BKV), JC-virus (JCV) and Simian-virus (SV-40). BK (polyma) virus causes allograft dysfunction in renal transplant recipients. The incidence of BK virus infection among renal transplant recipients in Bangladesh is unknown.

Objectives: To find out the frequency of BK virus infection in renal allograft recipients at sixth month after transplantation.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Nephrology at BSMMU, Dhaka. A total of 29 adult patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled from the period of July 2015 to June 2016 by convenient sampling. All relevant information from the renal allograft recipients were collected. Blood and urine of these patients were tested for BK viral DNA by PCR.

Results: The frequency of BK virus infection among the enrolled 29 renal transplanted patients was found to be 20.7%. The mean age of BK virus infected patients was 28.67±11.55 years. Among the 6 patients found infected by BK virus, 5(83.3%) were male. Among the 16 tacrolimus (TAC) treated patients, BK virus was detected in 3(18.7%) patients whereas among the 13 cyclosporin (CIC) treated patients, BK virus was detected in 3(23.1%) patients. 2(33.33%) of the BK virus infected patients developed asymptomatic BK virus infection with impaired graft function.