Cohort study of hepatotropic virus and human T lymphotropic virus type-I infections in an area endemic for adult T cell leukemia.
We tested for antibodies to hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human T lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) in 629 normal inhabitants of an adult T cell leukemia (ATL) endemic area and in patients with ATL, HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from the same district. The prevalence of serological positivity for each virus was 28.0, 6.4, and 32.6%, respectively, among the 629 inhabitants. There was a positive association between the presence of anti-HCV and serological HTLV-I positive or negative status of these subjects (9.3% vs 5.0%). Conversely, there was no correlation between HBV and HTLV-I serologic prevalence. Only inhabitants positive for anti-HCV showed significantly high serum aminotransferase levels. The levels were not affected by superimposed HTLV-I infection among anti-HCV positives. Fifty three percent of HCC patients were positive for anti-HCV; 35% of whom were simultaneously positive for antibody to HTLV-I. On the other hand, only 2 ATL patients (4.2%) and 2 HAM patients (7.7%) had anti-HCV. These findings suggest that high serum aminotransferase levels are mainly caused by HCV infection and persons with HCV and HTLV-I double infections are at a high risk for the development of HCC but not ATL or HAM.
Kamihira
S
S
Blood Transfusion Service, School of Medicine, Nagasaki University, Japan.
Momita
S
S
Ikeda
S
S
Yamada
Y
Y
Sohda
H
H
Atogami
S
S
Tomonaga
M
M
Kinoshita
K
K
Toriya
K
K
Furukawa
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged