The Impact of First-Time SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Human Anelloviruses

Anne L Timmerman; Lisanne Commandeur; Martin Deijs; Maarten G J M Burggraaff; A H Ayesha Lavell; Karlijn van der Straten; Khadija Tejjani; Jacqueline van Rijswijk; Marit J van Gils; Jonne J Sikkens; Marije K Bomers; Lia van der Hoek

doi:10.3390/v16010099

The Impact of First-Time SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Human Anelloviruses

Viruses. 2024 Jan 9;16(1):99. doi: 10.3390/v16010099.

Authors

Anne L Timmerman^{1

2}, Lisanne Commandeur^{1

2}, Martin Deijs^{1

2}, Maarten G J M Burggraaff^{1

2}, A H Ayesha Lavell^{2

3}, Karlijn van der Straten^{1

2

4}, Khadija Tejjani^{1

2}, Jacqueline van Rijswijk^{1

2}, Marit J van Gils^{1

2}, Jonne J Sikkens^{2

3}, Marije K Bomers^{2

3}, Lia van der Hoek^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
² Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Members of the Anelloviridae family dominate the blood virome, emerging early in life. The anellome, representing the variety of anelloviruses within an individual, stabilizes by adulthood. Despite their supposedly commensal nature, elevated anellovirus concentrations under immunosuppressive treatment indicate an equilibrium controlled by immunity. Here, we investigated whether anelloviruses are sensitive to the immune activation that accompanies a secondary infection. As a model, we investigated 19 health care workers (HCWs) with initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with blood sampling performed pre and post infection every 4 weeks in a 3-month-follow-up during the early 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. A concurrently followed control group (n = 27) remained SARS-CoV-2-negative. Serum anellovirus loads were measured using qPCR. A significant decrease in anellovirus load was found in the first weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection, whereas anellovirus concentrations remained stable in the uninfected control group. A restored anellovirus load was seen approximately 10 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection. For five subjects, an in-time anellome analysis via Illumina sequencing could be performed. In three of the five HCWs, the anellome visibly changed during SARS-CoV-2 infection and returned to baseline in two of these cases. In conclusion, anellovirus loads in blood can temporarily decrease upon an acute secondary infection.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; TTMDV; TTMV; TTV; anellome; virome.

MeSH terms

Adult
Anelloviridae*
COVID-19*
Coinfection*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

This work was funded by a grant from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie agreement No. 721367 (HONOURs) and from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (S3 study, grant agreement no. 10430022010023 to M.K.B.) and the Amsterdam University Medical Centers Corona Research Fund (Amsterdam UMC COVID-19 S3/HCW study group).