Abstract
Toroviruses are recognized enteric pathogens of cattle and horses; in humans, similar pleomorphic particles have been described, but doubt has been raised concerning their identity as viruses. We screened fecal samples from humans with diarrhea for the presence of torovirus-like particles (TVLPs) by electron microscopy and subsequently used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with bovine torovirus reference reagents to test for the presence of torovirus antigens. To add another selection criterion to this heterologous ELISA, we enriched the TVLPs from the stool specimens by using sucrose density gradients before testing. The results of ELISA and EM correlated significantly, the ELISA having a sensitivity of 68% and a specificity of 86% (chi-square, P < 0.0001). In the gradient, peaks of ELISA reactivity were found at a buoyant density of 1.16 g/ml and were parallel to those found when using bovine torovirus. Furthermore, in 50% of the ELISA-positive gradients, a hemagglutinin for human group O erythrocytes comigrated with the peaks of ELISA reactivity. We were unable to isolate human TVLPs in human colonic tumor or rectal tumor cells. We cloned and sequenced amplification products obtained by low-stringency polymerase chain reaction amplification using consensus primers mapping to the 3' end of the genome of animal toroviruses, but found no significant homologies with animals torovirus sequences. Rabbits were inoculated with material from the gradient peak fractions of human stool specimens, and their sera were assayed for immunologic comparison with bovine torovirus as a reference. A two-way antigenic cross-reactivity was seen between human TVLP and bovine torovirus reagents when tested by ELISA. The rabbit antisera to human TVLP detected a higher number of electron microscopy-positive stool specimens than did the rabbit antisera to bovine torovirus. The application of these assays and reagents should help to elucidate the roles of TVLPs and toroviruses in diarrheal disease in humans.