Evidence for Association of Human Bocavirus Persistence with Morbus Crohn and Ulcerative Colitis

Background: The human bocavirus (HBoV) is associated with gastrointestinal infections and was shown to persist in lung and colorectal tumors. Novel data suggest that HBoV may induce chronic inflammatory disease that in turn may lead to tumor development. Thereby it remains unknown if chronic inflammatory diseases like Morbus Crohn and Ulcerative colitis go ahead with a higher prevalence of the virus compared to control cohorts. Methods: formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples from adult patients and children and two control groups were tested for the presence of HBoV DNA with a PCR that was designed to determine between the four known HBoV species. Results: While there was no statistical significance between the pediatric HBoV and control cohorts, there was a significant higher prevalence of HBoV occurrence in adult patients with Crohn and Ulcerative colitis. Discussion: The present study provides evidence for the persistence of the human bocavirus in patients with Morbus Crohn and Ulcerative colitis. With statistical significance the virus was more frequently detected in tissues of the Morbus Crohn and Ulcerative colitis patient cohorts than in the control cohorts. Conclusion: The data give raise to the hypothesis that HBoV could be a trigger of acute exacerbations of these diseases or may be one cause of the diseases.