PCR-in situ hybridization (PCR-ISH) was developed and utilized to determine the distribution of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) tax proviral DNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). PCR-ISH of HTLV-1 tax DNA in PBL from patients with HAM/TSP revealed that 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000 PBL contai...

We developed a real-time (RT) PCR quantitative assay to measure the level of the integrated viral genome of HTLV-1 in host peripheral blood-mononuclear cells (PB-MNC) from healthy carriers and patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). All of the clinical specimens were serologically and molecularly characterized by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Southern blot hybridization (SBH)...

The immunopathology of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-I) uveitis was addressed by using T cell clones (TCC) established from the intraocular fluid of patients with HTLV-I uveitis. Proviral DNA of HTLV-I was identified in 55 out of 94 (59%) or 13 out of 36 (36%) TCC from the ocular fluid or the peripheral blood of these patients, respectively. Most of HTLV-I-infected TCC had a CD3+...

The present study was performed to clarify the relationship between human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection and chronic inflammatory arthropathy. To determine the ability of HTLV-I to infect synovial cells and the effect on synovial cell proliferation, synovial cells were cocultured with the HTLV-I-producing T cell lines (MT-2 or HCT-1). After coculture with HTLV-I-infected T ...

In the United States, blood donors are being screened for infection with human T cell lymphotropic viruses I and II (HTLV-IyII) by serologic means, which detect antibodies to the structural proteins of these viruses. Because patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) usually do not have such antibodies even though their cells harbor HTLV-I Tax andyor pol proviral sequences, it was questioned whether ...

Human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is one outcome of infection with HTLV-I. A population association study of 229 patients with HAM/TSP and 202 healthy carriers of HTLV-I in southern Japan showed that this outcome of HTLV-I infection and the HTLV-I provirus load are under polygenic control. Of 58 polymorphic sites studied in 3...

While most carriers of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) remain asymptomatic throughout their lifetime, infection is associated with the development of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The exact parameters that determine these outcomes are unknown but are believed to include host genetic factors that control the immun...

CD8(+) T cells contribute to central nervous system inflammation in human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). We analyzed CD8(+) T-cell dysfunction (degranulation and IFN-gamma production) and have demonstrated that CD8(+) T cells of patients with HAM/TSP (HAM/TSP patients) spontaneously degranulate and express IFN-gamma in ex ...

The human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is efficiently transmitted through cellular contacts. While the molecular mechanisms of viral cell-to-cell propagation have been extensively studied in vitro, those facilitating the encounter between infected and target cells remain unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that HTLV-1-infected CD4 T cells secrete a potent chemoattractant, leukotriene...