Gastrointestinal parasitic infection in healthy Jamaican carriers of HTLV-I.
A subsample (1.6%; n = 13,260) of a healthy Jamaican population of food-handlers, studied by Murphy et al. (1991), who were serologically positive (n = 99) or negative (n = 113) for HTLV-I was investigated for intestinal parasitic infection using coprological methods. Helminth infection included Ascaris lumbricoides (2.8%), Trichuris trichiura (7.1%) and hookworms (6.1%). Entamoeba coli was found in 21.8% of samples, while E. hartmanni, Giardia lamblia, Endolimax nana, Iodamoeba bütschlii and Chilomastix mesnili each occurred in less than 10% of responders. T. trichiura displayed a higher prevalence (10.6 vs 3%) (chi 2 = 4.623; P = 0.03) in the HTLV-I negative group. G. lamblia was detected more frequently among HTLV-I carriers compared to controls (9.1 and 3.5%, respectively), but the association was not statistically significant (chi 2 = 2.825; P = 0.09). Infection with intestinal parasites is likely to occur independent of HTLV-I status: however, possible HTLV-I-induced immunosuppression may lead to higher intensity infections of certain organisms thus facilitating easier detection using parasitological methods. The immunomodulatory potential of HTLV-I infection in the aetiology of non-malignant diseases requires further investigation.
Robinson
R D
RD
Department of Zoology, University of the West, Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
Murphy
E L
EL
Wilks
R J
RJ
Neva
F A
FA
Terry
S I
SI
Hanchard
B
B
Figueroa
J P
JP
Blattner
W A
WA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002353:Carrier State; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies