Intrafamilial transmission of HTLV-I and its association with anti-Tax antibody in an endemic population in Japan
✍ Scribed by Shigemasa Shioiri; Sherri O. Stuver; Akihiko Okayama; Koichi Murai; Takashi Shima; Nobuyoshi Tachibana; Hirohito Tsubouchi; Max Essex; Nancy Mueller
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- French
- Weight
- 46 KB
- Volume
- 75
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0020-7136
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✦ Synopsis
To assess the relationship of anti-Tax antibody to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) transmission, the sero-prevalence of HTLV-I was analyzed among married couples and among mother/child (both adults) pairs. HTLV-I seroprevalence was significantly higher among wives with anti-Tax ϩ than those with anti-Tax ؊ HTLV-I carrier husbands (82.4% vs. 59.5%). However, in the group of wives aged 60 years or older, there was no statistical difference in HTLV-I seropositivity based on the husbands' anti-Tax sero-status. In the group whose wives were less than 60 years old, more anti-Tax sero-positive than sero-negative husbands had high DNA levels (57.1% and 20.0%), whereas in the group of husbands whose wives were aged 60 years or older, the number of anti-Tax sero-positive and sero-negative individuals with high DNA levels was similar. HTLV-I sero-prevalence was significantly higher among the adult men with anti-Tax ϩ carrier mothers than those with anti-Tax ؊ carrier mothers (52.0% vs. 14.3%). For women, HTLV-I sero-prevalence did not differ significantly according to their mothers' anti-Tax sero-status. Our results suggest that the presence of anti-Tax antibody in HTLV-I carriers is an age-dependent risk factor for male-to-female HTLV-I transmission. Furthermore, the effect of the mother's anti-Tax antibody as a risk factor for vertical HTLV-I transmission could be observed in men even after becoming adults.