Seroepidemiology and clinical aspects of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I/II infection in a cohort of intravenous drug users in New York City.
To define further the magnitude, epidemiology, and clinical features of human T-cell lymphotropic/leukemia virus type I/II (HTLV-I/II) infection in 454 intravenous drug users in New York City, we evaluated previously frozen aliquots of sera for HTLV-I/II antibodies using enzyme-linked immunoassay, Western blot, and radioimmunoprecipitation techniques. We found HTLV-I/II infection in 18.9% of the subjects. Age (p = 0.001), race (p = 0.001), having a same gender sexual relationship (p = 0.01), and HIV-1 infection (p = 0.041) were clear correlates of HTLV-I/II infection. HTLV-I/II seropositive subjects, in contrast to seronegative subjects, had lower leukocyte counts (p = 0.05) and higher globulin (p = 0.005) and gamma globulin (p = 0.009) levels even when HIV-1 serostatus was controlled. The considerable prevalence of HTLV-I/II infection and the morbidity of HTLV-I/II-associated disorders strongly suggest a continued need to define the dimensions of HTLV-I/II infection.
Brown
L S
LS
Division of Medical Services, Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Chu
A
A
Allain
J P
JP
Lee
H
H
Cerney
M
M
Nemoto
T
T
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies