Plasma virome dynamics in chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients

Marijn Thijssen; Frank Tacke; Lore Van Espen; David Cassiman; Mahmoud Naser Aldine; Frederik Nevens; Marc Van Ranst; Jelle Matthijnssens; Mahmoud Reza Pourkarim

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1172574

Plasma virome dynamics in chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients

Front Microbiol. 2023 May 9:14:1172574. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1172574. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Campus Virchow-Klinikum and Campus Charité Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Laboratory of Viral Metagenomics, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵ Health Policy Research Centre, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
⁶ Blood Transfusion Research Centre, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The virome remains an understudied domain of the human microbiome. The role of commensal viruses on the outcome of infections with known pathogens is not well characterized. In this study we aimed to characterize the longitudinal plasma virome dynamics in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients. Eighty-five longitudinal plasma samples were collected from 12 chronic HBV infected individuals that were classified in the four stages of HBV infection. The virome was characterized with an optimized viral extraction protocol and deep-sequenced on a NextSeq 2500 platform. The plasma virome was primarily composed of members of the Anello- Flavi-, and Hepadnaviridae (HBV) families. The virome structure and dynamics did not correlate with the different stages of chronic HBV infection nor with the administration of antiviral therapy. We observed a higher intrapersonal similarity of viral contigs. Genomic analysis of viruses observed in multiple timepoint demonstrated the presence of a dynamic community. This study comprehensively assessed the blood virome structure in chronic HBV infected individuals and provided insights in the longitudinal development of this viral community.

Keywords: anellovirus; blood; hepatitis B virus; metagenomic; pegivirus; plasma; virome.