Chronic neurodegenerative disease associated with HTLV-II infection.
Although human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) type I is known to cause a number of diseases, there has been no convincing evidence of pathological changes after infection with the related virus, HTLV-II. We have found an endemic focus of HTLV-II infection among members of an American Indian population in New Mexico, USA. We set out to determine the pathological consequences of HTLV-II infection in this population and identified two sisters (aged 59 and 46 years) with a disease superficially resembling the myeloneuropathy induced by HTLV-I. These women had a syndrome similar to the olivopontocerebellar atrophy variant of multiple system atrophy, and HTLV-II infection was confirmed by western blot and the polymerase chain reaction. Thus, HTLV-II may, like HTLV-I, cause a progressive neurodegenerative disease.
Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque 87131-3061.
B
B
Hjelle
O
O
Appenzeller
R
R
Mills
S
S
Alexander
N
N
Torrez-Martinez
R
R
Jahnke
G
G
Ross
D001259:Ataxia / Q000382:microbiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000382:microbiology; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009516:New Mexico; D010243:Paralysis / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction