title: Immune responsiveness to the immunodominant recombinant envelope epitopes of human T lymphotropic virus types I and II in diverse geographic populations.
abstract: The heterogeneity of immune responsiveness to the immunodominant epitopes of human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I (MTA-1(162-209)) and II (K-55(162-205)) were determined in natural infections with HTLV-I and -II from diverse geographic areas (n = 285). Of the HTLV-I specimens confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), all North American (n = 37) and Peruvian (n = 19) specimens reacted with MTA-1. Of HTLV-II specimens confirmed by PCR, 44 (96%) of 46 from North American blood donors, 28 (97%) of 29 from native Americans, and all from intravenous drug users (n = 29) reacted with K-55. Specimens from other geographic areas (Peru, 30; Brazil, 4; Mexico, 10; Italy, 5; Somalia, 13; Ethiopia, 17; Japan, 32; and Jamaica, 15) all reacted either with MTA-1 or K-55. By synthetic peptide-based serologic typing, all of these specimens could be typed as HTLV-I or -II. In addition to the direct implications of these findings for diagnostic purposes, these data provide indirect evidence for the conservation of immunodominant HTLVenv epitopes in diverse geographic populations.
authors.affiliation: Retrovirus Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buckner
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Foung
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lipka
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hadlock
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gongora-Biachi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hjelle
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lal
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001782:Blood Donors; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis*; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology*; D005843:Geography; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007563:Jamaica; D008800:Mexico; D009656:North America; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013020:South America; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins