OBJECTIVETo determine whether the transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) is hepatotropic.

METHODSTotal DNA was extracted from various tissues of 5 experimentally infected Rhesus monkeys during the viremic period. A dot hybridization was done with viral double stranded DNA probes or single antisense probes.

RESULTSThe double-stranded probe was hybridized with DNA from the liver, bone marrow, spleen,stomach, small intestine and colon. The single-stranded antisense probe was hybridized with DNA from the liver, small intestine and bone marrow of all 5 monkeys, but not with that from other tissues.

CONCLUSIONSAs the viral genome was of negative polarity, the plus-stranded fragment identified in our study might be a replicative intermediate, and was only demonstrated in the liver, small intestine, and bone marrow by dot blot hybridization with single-stranded antisense probes. It is suggested that the TTV replicates in the liver, bone marrow and small intestine, and TTV might be hepatotropic.

Animals ; Bone Marrow ; virology ; DNA Virus Infections ; virology ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Intestine, Small ; virology ; Liver ; virology ; Macaca mulatta ; Torque teno virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Virus Replication