title: Serological and molecular survey for HTLV-I infection in a high-risk Middle Eastern group.
abstract: To define the extent of human T-cell leukaemia virus (HTLV-I) infection among a group of Jewish immigrants to Israel with an increased frequency of adult T-cell leukaemia, various serological and molecular screening methods, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for anti-HTLV-I, ELISA for antibody to recombinant HTLV-I p40tax protein, and molecular detection of infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of HTLV-I proviral DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA, were used. By HTLV-I ELISA the overall rate of infection was 12% (24 of 208) among immigrants from Khurusan, northeastern Iran; no HTLV-I carriers were detected among 111 unselected Jewish immigrants from other parts of Iran. There was unexplained clustering of HTLV-I infection within a cohort of 32 elderly women of similar geographic origin in a home for old people--14 were seropositive by ELISA and 19 of 29 were positive by PCR. The findings in this newly identified high-risk population suggest that in addition to ELISA, other screening techniques may be required to detect all carriers in high-risk populations.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meytes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schochat
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nadel
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sidi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerney
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaklai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kilim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elgat
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000208:ethnology; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies