Failure to detect HTLV-I by in situ hybridization in the biopsied muscles of viral carriers with polymyositis.
Direct infection of muscle fibers by human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) has recently been reported in a patient with polymyositis infected with both HTLV-I and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Coinfections of these viruses are frequently found in the United States. In Kagoshima, Japan, patients with polymyositis have a significantly increased incidence of seropositivity to HTLV-I alone, when compared with the general population of Kagoshima. In this study, we examined muscle tissue from 6 HTLV-I-positive patients with polymyositis from Kagoshima. To detect HTLV-I products, sensitive immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization analysis were performed. These were compared with muscle fibers from a well-characterized transgenic mouse model which expressed HTLV-I tax. No specific signals were detected in the biopsied muscles of patients with polymyositis infected with HTLV-I alone. HIV co-infection may, therefore, augment HTLV-I expression through either immunosuppression or direct viral interactions.
Higuchi
I
I
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
Nerenberg
M
M
Yoshimine
K
K
Yoshida
M
M
Fukunaga
H
H
Tajima
K
K
Osame
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000382:microbiology*; D009220:Myositis / Q000382:microbiology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies