Objective: To study the status of simian virus 40 (SV40) infection and its origin in human brain tumors.
Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Dot blot hybridization were used to detect SV40 DNA sequences in 516 human brain tumor tissues, 80 peripheral blood cells and 50 sperm fluids from healthy individuals, 100 human embryo tissues from artificial abortion, 30 normal brain tissues and two human glioma cell lines: SHG44 and BT325.
Results: SV40 DNA sequences were found in 36.4% of human brain tumors (188/516), 16.3% of healthy peripheral blood cells (13/80), 22.0% of healthy semen (11/50), 8.0% of human embryo tissues (8/100) and 6.7% of normal brain tissues (2/30). SV40 DNA sequences were also detected in SHG44 and BT325 cell lines. The positive rates of SV40 DNA in human brain tumors, peripheral blood cells and semen from healthy donors were significantly higher than those in human normal brain and embryo tissues (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: (1) SV40 has a higher infection rate in human brain tumors, (2) SV40 is closely related to the etiopathogenesis of human brain tumors, (3) the ways of SV40 spread may due to both horizontal and diaplacental infections in human population.