Survey of anti-human T-cell leukemia virus type I antibody in family members of patients with adult T-cell leukemia.
To evaluate the intrafamilial clustering of HTLV-I, we examined the sera or plasma of 296 healthy family members of patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) for anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Of 296 subjects, 132 (44.6%) had anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Fifty-nine (41.0%) out of 144 males and 73 (48.0%) out of 152 females were seropositive. The positive rates of antibody to HTLV-I increased with age, especially between the 30-39 and the 40-49 age groups. Five out of 6 fathers, 3 out of 4 mothers, 31 (60.8%) out of 51 spouses, 40 (63.5%) out of 63 siblings and 46 (33.8%) out of 136 children of patients with ATL had anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Of 74 children with an ATL father, 14 (18.9%) were seropositive, while 32 (51.6%) out of 63 children with an ATL mother were seropositive. This difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.001). Of those children with an ATL father, 12 (26.1%) out of 46 whose mothers were HTLV-I carriers had antibodies to HTLV-I. In contrast, none of the 13 children whose mothers were not carriers were seropositive. These results supported the hypothesis that the mother-to-child transmission is one of the most important modes of HTLV-I transmission. In wives of male patients with ATL, the positive rate of antibody to HTLV-I was 65.6% (21/32), and in husbands of female patients, it was 52.6% (10/19). The high positive rate of antibody to HTLV-I not only in wives of male patients but also in husbands of female patients suggests that either HTLV-I is more frequently transmitted from wives to their husbands than we had originally expected, or that ATL may develop even in wives who acquire HTLV-I from their husbands after marriage.
Momita
S
S
Department of Hematology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine.
Ikeda
S
S
Amagasaki
T
T
Soda
H
H
Yamada
Y
Y
Kamihira
S
S
Tomonaga
M
M
Kinoshita
K
K
Ichimaru
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D012737:Sex Factors
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies