Papillomavirus in urine in pregnancy and following renal transplantation.

A survey of papovavirus excretion in urine during pregnancy and following renal transplantation has shown that 0.32% of specimens from the former and 0.5% of the specimens from the latter individuals contain virus particles of a size and morphology typical of papillomaviruses. Of the eight pregnant women who excreted such particles none had any visible evidence of any papillomatous lesions, whereas five of the six renal transplant recipients surveyed had a variety of such lesions, including three who had a marked urethral papillomatosis. Although the small quantity of virus detected prevented serological confirmation of particle identity, the uniformity of size, lack of growth in tissue culture, and occurrence of urethral papillomas strongly suggest that papillomavirus is excreted by both groups of patients investigated.