Saliva in the Diagnosis of Viral Diseases

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 622

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Lab of Virology, Pad Baglivi, INMI L Spallanzani, Via Portuense, 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
Interests: HPV; HIV; viral hepatitis; virus molecular evolution; host–pathogen interaction; zoonoses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases "L. Spallanzani", Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
Interests: rapid tests for COVID-19; saliva and COVID-19 diagnosis; emerging viruses; host–pathogen interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Saliva has long been used as one of the main biological samples for the detection of CMV congenital infection in newborns, for the detection of HPV in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), for studies of somatic mutations or as biomarker sources (i.e., to detect miRNAs). During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific evidence emerged indicating that molecular tests performed on saliva have diagnostic sensitivity and specificity comparable to those observed with nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. Moreover, the presence of IgA and IgG antibodies at the mucosal level has been demonstrated to influence the progression of viral infection and the severity of clinical manifestation. Looking forward, as saliva uniquely contains both respiratory secretions and immunological components, it potentially has wide applications, ranging from clinical diagnostics to post-vaccine disease burden and immunity surveillance. Due to its easy and painless self-collection, saliva represents a suitable alternative sample in community mass screening programs and for longitudinal sampling of hospitalized individuals aimed at monitoring viral load dynamics and treatment response. Recent proteomic studies revealed that 20–30% of the salivary proteome mirrors the plasma proteome, indicating that saliva could represent a potential alternative approach for systemic disease diagnosis. In this Special Issue, we would like to offer the possibility to describe different purification methods and types of sample collection in order to optimize the use of saliva as specimens for the study of biomarkers, pathogen detection and somatic mutation linked to cancer.

Dr. Anna Rosa Garbuglia
Dr. Licia Bordi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • saliva
  • diagnosis
  • pathogen detection
  • immunity
  • biomarkers

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Oral Shedding of Torquetenovirus (TTV) in Moderate-to-Severe COVID-19 Hospitalised Patients
by Rafael Antônio Velôso Caixeta, Alexandre Mendes Batista, Matheus Willian Caetano, Michelle Palmieri, Gabriela Schwab, Rodrigo Melim Zerbinati, Andressa Silva Pereira Victor, Camila de Barros Gallo, Tânia Regina Tozetto-Mendoza, Roger Junges, Karem L. Ortega, André Luiz Ferreira Costa, Dmitry José de Santana Sarmento, Débora Pallos, José Angelo Lauletta Lindoso, Simone Giannecchini and Paulo Henrique Braz-Silva
Viruses 2024, 16(6), 831; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060831 - 24 May 2024
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Abstract
Background. Torquetenovirus (TTV) is a small DNA virus constituting the human virome. High levels of TTV-DNA have been shown to be associated with immunosuppression and inflammatory chronic disorders. Aim. To assess the possible association between the salivary viral load of TTV-DNA in patients [...] Read more.
Background. Torquetenovirus (TTV) is a small DNA virus constituting the human virome. High levels of TTV-DNA have been shown to be associated with immunosuppression and inflammatory chronic disorders. Aim. To assess the possible association between the salivary viral load of TTV-DNA in patients hospitalised due to COVID-19 and disease severity. Methods. Saliva samples collected from 176 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were used to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and TTV-DNA by use of real-time RT-PCR. Results. The majority of patients were male with severe COVID-19. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 was observed in the saliva of 64.77% of patients, showing TTV-DNA in 55.68% of them. Patients with impaired clinical conditions (p < 0.001), which evolved to death (p = 0.003), showed a higher prevalence of TTV-DNA. The median viral load in patients with severe condition was 4.99 log10 copies/mL, in which those who were discharged and those evolving to death had values of 3.96 log10 copies/mL and 6.27 log10 copies/mL, respectively. A statistically significant association was found between the distribution of TTV-DNA viral load in saliva samples and severity of COVID-19 (p = 0.004) and disease outcomes (p < 0.001). Conclusions. These results indicate that TTV-DNA in saliva could be a useful biomarker of COVID-19 severity and prognosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Saliva in the Diagnosis of Viral Diseases)
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