Primary Sjögren's syndrome with antibodies to HTLV-I: clinical and laboratory features.
The prevalence of antibodies to human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) was studied in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. Thirteen of 36 serum samples were positive by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and particle agglutination assay for antibodies to HTLV-I and were confirmed by western blotting. The presence of antibodies to HTLV-I may signify an HTLV-I carrier state. These patients had a high occurrence of extraglandular manifestations such as uveitis, myopathy, and recurrent high fever compared with patients who did not have antibodies to HTLV-I. Patients with antibodies to HTLV-I had an increased spontaneous proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared with those without the antibodies. The proportions of activated and memory T cells (HLA-DR+ CD3+, CD25+ CD3+, and CD29+ CD4+ cells) were higher in HTLV-I carriers than in non-carriers. The presence of antibodies to HTLV-I in some patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome suggests that HTLV-I may cause primary Sjögren's syndrome or its extraglandular manifestations, or both.
First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
K
K
Eguchi
N
N
Matsuoka
H
H
Ida
M
M
Nakashima
M
M
Sakai
S
S
Sakito
A
A
Kawakami
K
K
Terada
H
H
Shimada
Y
Y
Kawabe
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002353:Carrier State / Q000276:immunology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000150:complications
D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies