Transplacental transmission of torque teno virus.

BACKGROUND: TTV has been detected in almost every human tissue type or body fluid reaching near 100% prevalence. Several studies report mother-to-child postnatal transmission of TTV in infancy but the risk of transplacental transmission of TTV is still unclear.

METHODS: The blood and plasma collected postpartum from 100 mother-child pairs were analyzed using TTV-specific qPCR. Samples were collected from the peripheral vein of the mother and the umbilical cord.

RESULTS: Eighty four percent of pregnant women were TTV positive (median titers: 8 × 104 copies/mL; range: 103 - 3 × 107 ). The TTV load in plasma was approximately 100 times lower than in whole blood. TTV was not detected in any of cord blood samples.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate the lack of transplacental transmission of TTV (or effective prenatal inhibition of viral proliferation). The presence of the virus in infants may be associated with mother-to-child transmission through breast feeding or other routes of transmission.