The role of torque teno virus (TTV) viremia in sarcoidosis etiology

Objective: To investigate a possible role of torque teno virus (TTV) in the etiology of sarcoidosis Design: Controlled prospective study Setting: Faculty of Meram Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey Subjects: This cross-sectional, clinical study included 37 sarcoidosis patients and 9 healthy control patients. Intervention: TTV DNA quantification was performed by real-time PCR by the hybridization probe system, and viral load was interpreted by means of the crossing point (CP) value in sera of subjects. Main outcome measures: The prevalence and viral load of TTV Results: TTV DNA was detected in the majority of both patients and healthy controls. The prevalence was 59.5% in patients and 55.6% in controls. This difference was not statistically significant. However, CP values were statistically different in the patient group from the control group (p < 0.001); namely, the viral load of TTV was higher in the patient group than in the healthy control group. Conclusions: Overall, these findings demonstrate for the first time that TTV plays a role in the etiology of sarcoidosis. It is likely that the role of TTV in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis is an aberrant immune response, driven by viral antigens.