Increased HTLV-I proviral DNA in HTLV-I–associated myelopathy: A quantitative polymerase chain reaction study

✍ Scribed by Dr Jun-ichi Kira; Yoshio Koyanagi; Takeshi Yamada; Yasuto Itoyama; Ikuo Goto; Naoki Yamamoto; Hiroyuki Sasaki; Yoshiyuki Sakaki

• Book ID: 102708537
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 749 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0364-5134
• DOI: 10.1002/ana.410290214

✦ Synopsis

Using the polymerase chain reaction, we quantitated the amount of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 18 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathyitropical spastic paraparesis; 17 HTLV-I carriers without HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, with or without other autoimmune or inflammatory diseases; and 19 seronegative control subjects. The HTLV-I proviral DNA was 10-to 100-fold higher in the patients and in the HTLV-I carriers without HAM/TSP who had autoimmune or inflammatory diseases than in the carriers without autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. The patients who had had onset of myelopathy at a younger age (15 to 39 years) had an extremely high level of HTLV-I proviral DNA in the early phase, as compared with findings in those with a late onset of myelopathy (at 44 to 61 years). The large increase in HTLV-I proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is presumably closely related to the development of autoimmune or inflammatory processes in HTLV-I carriers, including HTLV-I-associated rnyelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.