Urinary polyomavirus infections in neurodevelopmental disorders

We have recently reported enhanced frequencies of polyomavirus infection in post-mortem brain tissue of autistic patients compared to controls. To further explore potential contributions to neurodevelopmental disorders by polyomaviruses, we have employed specie-specific TaqMan assays to assess the prevalence and titres of BKV, JCV and SV40 inthe urines of 87 patients with autism spectrum disorder, 84 controls matched by sex and age with the autistic sample, 15 subjects with Down syndrome and 13 fragile X individuals. Prevalence rates of urinary BKV infection were significantly greater in Down syndrome and fragile X patients compared to autistic and control individuals (P < 0.01). In a large majority of patients who showed the presence of urinary genomes, viral titres resulted significantly higher among Down syndrome patients (P < 0.01) compared to controls, autism spectrum disorder and fragile X individuals, who did not significantly differ from each other. Our results are consistent with previous evidence supporting hampered immunological surveillance and/or immune deficits in fragile X and especially in Down syndrome patients.