Polyomaviruses of nonhuman primates: implications for research

Abstract

Polyomaviruses are a family of small nonenveloped DNA viruses that infect birds and mammals. At least 7 nonhuman primate polyomaviruses that occur in macaques, African green monkeys, marmosets baboons, and chimpanzees have been described, as well as 4 polyomaviruses that occur in humans. Simian virus 40 (SV40), which infects macaques, was the first nonhuman primate polyomavirus identified as a contaminant of early polio vaccines. Primate polyomaviruses cause inapparent primary infections but persist in the host and can cause severe disease in situations of immunocompromise. This review describes the primate polyomaviruses, and the diseases associated with the viruses of macaques. In macaques, the greatest current concerns are the potential confounding of study results by polyomavirus infections and the zoonotic potential of SV40.

Figure 1.

PML. Low-magnification photomicrograph of cerebrum from an SIV-infected rhesus macaque. The pale foci in the blue-stained white matter are areas of demyelination due to SV40 infection. Luxol fast blue–hematoxylin and eosin stain; bar, 1 mm.

Figure 2.

PML. Photomicrograph of the margin of a focus of demyelination in the cerebrum of an SIV-infected rhesus macaque. Large, gemistocytic astrocytes (black arrows), with bizarre, sometimes multiple, nuclei; macrophages containing phagocytized myelin debris (white arrows); and nuclei of glia with smudgy intranuclear inclusions of SV40 (enlarged in inset). Luxol fast blue–hematoxylin and eosin; bar, 50 μm.

Figure 3.

SV40-induced nephritis. Photomicrograph of kidney from an SIV-infected rhesus macaque. Arrows indicate enlarged nuclei of a collecting duct with intranuclear polyomaviral inclusions. Hematoxylin and eosin stain; bar, 50 μm.