Objective(s): HTLVI-1 is the first human retrovirus with limited endemic regions in the world. The epidemiological studies have shown that the genetic background and immune response to the virus have a significant role in HTLV-I-associated diseases.  Among the genes are involved in HTLV-I infection, the role of human leukocytes antigen (HLA) have been studied in different population. In the pre...

In this issue of Blood, Bellon and Nicot describe an elegant mechanism used by HTLV-I to up-regulate telomerase gene expression and function in the absence of the viral tax oncoprotein. A dult T-cell leukemia was first reported as an entity in Blood in 1977. 1 Three years later, Gallo et al identified the human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus-I (HTLV-I), a deltaretrovirus, as the causative agent...

Chromosome aberrations and clinical features of three patients with adult T cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATL) not associated with human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) are described. From their clinical features, two patients were diagnosed as acute type and one patient was diagnosed as chronic type, which later converted to acute crisis. Clonal and many chromosomal abnormalities were observed...

Although the structure of human T lymphoptropic virus type I (HTLV-I) has been known well, the function of some proteins encoded by HTLV-I PX region is not fully understood. Furthermore, the responses of the immune system to HTLV-I remain still unknown. Most of HTLV-I-infected individuals show a strong and persistently activated cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response to the virus. The frequency of HTL...

Twenty human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) antibody-positive sera from Japan, Hawaii, and the Marshall Islands and 15 HTLV type II (HTLV-II) antibody-positive sera from intravenous drug users in the United States were tested by immunoblotting with two recombinant HTLV-I proteins and three commercial kits to determine whether there were any differences in reactions between HTLV-I- and HTL...

SIRIn a recent review of the infectious complications of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection, Marsh [1] suggested that those individuals infected with HTLV-I may be at increased risk of tuberculosis. This risk may be due to reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity to PPD in asymptomatic patients infected with HTLV-l. Up to 14% of the population in Papua New Guinea are infecte...

Human T-cell leukemia virus types I (HTLV-I) and II (HTLV-II) are human retroviruses which normally infect T-lymphoid cells. HTLV-I infection is associated with adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma, and HTLV-II is associated with an indolent form of hairy-cell leukemia. To identify potential transcriptional regulatory elements of these two related human retroviruses, we performed DNase I footprinting...

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) associated adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) occurs endemically in southwestern Japan, the Caribbean, and West Africa, but occurs sporadically in most of the rest of the world. However, because ATLL and non-HTLV-I associated T-cell neoplasms share overlapping clinicopathologic features, the prevalence of ATLL in nonendemic regions is unknown. ...

OBJECTIVE(S) The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HLA class I alleles (HLA-A*02, HLA-A*24, HLA-Cw*08, HLA-B5401) and proviral load in HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraperesis (HAM/TSP) patients in Iranian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS 20 new cases of HAM/TSP patients and 30 HTLV-I infected healthy carriers were recruited. Peripheral blood sampl...