Human T cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I) infection is associated with spontaneous T cell activation and uncontrolled lymphocyte proliferation. An exacerbated type-1 immune response with production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) is significantly higher in patients with myelopathy associated to HTLV-I than in HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers. In co...

Human T-lymphotrophic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus that is thought to infect approximately 10-20 million people worldwide. The majority of infected individuals remain asymptomatic carriers lifelong. HTLV-1 is thought to cause both local and systemic inflammatory diseases. The most common inflammatory condition associated with HTLV-1 is HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/Tropical spastic para...

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that can be primary the skin or secondary, caused by Human lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1) infection. The prevalence HTLV-1 infection high in Brazil, however reports ATLL are rare, possibly underdiagnosed and underreported. This paper presents a case report patient coming from south region country with few cited c...

INTRODUCTION The prevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) infection is heterogeneous across different populations. We tested the hypothesis that HTLV-1/2 infection occurs more often in dermatological patients. METHODS A total of 1,091 patients from a tropical dermatology clinic were tested for HTLV-1/2. In parallel, 6865 first-time blood donors from the same geog...

Seventy-one sera from Japanese individuals infected with human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) were examined for the presence of antibodies to HTLV-III by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by a strip radioimmunoassay based on the Western blot technique. The sera were from 23 healthy carriers and from 48 patients, including 18 with smoldering adult T cell leukemia (ATL), 13 ...

We recently reported that human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection is accompanied by a high frequency of CD4(+)FoxP3(+) cells in the circulation. In asymptomatic carriers of HTLV-1 and in patients with HTLV-1-associated inflammatory and malignant diseases, a high FoxP3(+) cell frequency correlated with inefficient cytotoxic T cell-mediated killing of HTLV-1-infected cells. In adult ...

The human retroviruses HIV-1 and HTLV-1/HTLV-2 share similar routes of transmission but cause significantly different diseases. In this review we have outlined the immune mediated mechanisms by which HTLVs affect HIV-1 disease in co-infected hosts. During co-infection with HIV-1, HTLV-2 modulates the cellular microenvironment favoring its own viability and inhibiting HIV-1 progression. This is ...

HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is a chronic, progressive, neuroinflammatory demyelinating condition of the spinal cord. We have previously shown that aberrant expression and activity immune checkpoint (ICP) molecules such as PD-1 PD-L1/PD-L2, negatively associates with cytolytic potential T cells in individuals HAM/TSP. Interestingly, ICPs can exist soluble ...

We describe the use of an immunofluorescence assay and coculture to confirm human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV) infection. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 32 of 32 seropositive donors were positive in the immunofluorescence assay, and 63% of their cocultures produced p24 antigen. Specific antibodies distinguished HTLV type I (HTLV-I) from HTLV-II. HTLV-I or HTLV-II was isolated ...