Serologic confirmation of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I infection by using immunoassays developed for human T-lymphotropic virus antibody detection.
Serum specimens from diverse species of Old World monkeys, categorized as seropositive (n = 97) or seronegative (n = 23) for human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection, were tested by using recombinant env-spiked Western immunoblot assays and synthetic peptide assays for simultaneous detection and discrimination of simian T-lymphotropic virus (STLV) infection. Of the 97 seropositive specimens, 93 reacted with the recombinant transmembrane (r21env) protein and 90 reacted with a recombinant, MTA-1, derived from the central region of the external glycoprotein of HTLV-I (rgp46env), thus yielding test sensitivities of 96 and 93%, respectively. While 1 of the 23 negative monkey specimens reacted with r21env, none reacted with rgp46env, for overall specificities of 96 and 100%, respectively. Analysis of synthetic peptide-based immunoassays demonstrated that while 85 of 97 (88%) seropositive specimens reacted with HTLV-I-specific epitope (p19gag), none of the specimens reacted with HTLV-II-specific epitope (gp52env). These results show that recombinant envelope-spiked Western blots provide a simple means for serologic confirmation of STLV-I infection and that type-specific synthetic peptides can be used to confirm the virus type in seropositive monkey specimens.
Retrovirus Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
D L
DL
Rudolph
J
J
Yee
J
J
Mone
S K
SK
Foung
J J
JJ
Lipka
G R
GR
Reyes
K
K
Hadlock
L
L
Chan
F
F
Villinger
M D
MD
Lairmore
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002520:Cercopithecidae; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D015531:Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015303:Simian T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D015686:Gene Products, env; D010455:Peptides