Human T-cell leukemia virus type I or a related retrovirus in patients with mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome and Kaposi's sarcoma.
Antibodies reactive with human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) proteins p19, p24, gp46, p56, and gp68 were detected in four of 27 patients with mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome (MF/SS) and one patient with Kaposi's sarcoma using radioimmunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis. Seroreactivity patterns to HTLV-I proteins of MF/SS sera were indeterminate or limited in comparison with sera of patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. HTLV-I gag- and tax/rex-specific DNA was demonstrated in peripheral blood from three of the MF/SS patients and from the patient with Kaposi's sarcoma by the polymerase chain reaction. HTLV-I-specific DNA sequences were not detected in a cohort of seven seronegative MF/SS patients. The frequency of HTLV-I infection was four of 27 or 14.8% among the MF/SS patients, which is several hundredfold higher than in normal blood donors. The present data suggest a possible association of HTLV-I or a related retrovirus with mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome and Kaposi's sarcoma.
Department of Molecular Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263.
B I
BI
Srivastava
K
K
Banki
A
A
Perl
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015485:Deltaretrovirus Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009182:Mycosis Fungoides / Q000382:microbiology*; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000382:microbiology*; D012751:Sezary Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology*
D015485:Deltaretrovirus Antigens; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies