Seroprevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with ocular disorders.
Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-I) has been shown to spread worldwide and to be responsible for distinct systemic diseases, namely adult T-cell leukaemia and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy. Immune-mediated, inflammatory lesions in the lungs, joints, and lacrimal glands (Sjögren's syndrome) are also suggested to be associated with the retrovirus. We studied seroprevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with various ocular disorders who are residents of south-west Japan, one of the endemic areas of HTLV-I. Of 310 patients with ocular disease 72 (23.2%) were seropositive. This seroprevalence did not differ significantly from that of the general population of the area. As regards individual ocular diseases, aetiologically undefined nonspecific uveitis showed a significantly high seropositivity for HTLV-I. Of 44 patients 18 (40.9%) were seropositive. Their clinical features were acute or subacute, transient and sometimes recurrent, and granulomatous changes in the anterior uvea. Patients with isolated cotton-wool spot of the retina, non-familial retinitis pigmentosa, or keratoconjunctivitis sicca did not show any significantly high prevalence of HTLV-I infection.
Nakao
K
K
Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Matsumoto
M
M
Ohba
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014605:Uveitis / Q000276:immunology
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies