title: Cell surface phenotype of in vitro proliferating lymphocytes in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP).
abstract: The in vitro proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) without any mitogenic stimulation is one of the hallmarks of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection. Recent evidence suggests a difference in the degree of the phenomenon between HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers (AC). In this article, we demonstrated several alterations in the features of the in vitro transformed lymphocytes between patients with HAM/TSP (n = 16) and AC (n = 8). The percentages of total CD8+ and CD8+CD28+ cells were significantly increased in the in vitro proliferating T lymphocytes derived from the patients with HAM/TSP when compared to those from AC. HAM/TSP was segregated from AC by the high degree of the proliferation of CD8+CD28+ cells. The expression of HTLV-I-specific antigens on the cultured PBLs was detected only in the subjects which showed low CD8+CD28+/CD4+ ratio of the in vitro proliferating lymphocytes. These findings suggest that this phenomenon distinguishes HAM/TSP from AC, not only in quantity but also in quality.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eiraku
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ijichi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yashiki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osame
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonoda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002353:Carrier State; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015486:HTLV-I Antigens